


\%^o. 



THE 



Ur 



7 



RIGHTFUL EEMEDY. 



ADDRESSED TO 



THE SLAVEHOLDERS OF THE SOUTH. 



By EDWARD B. BRYAN. 



" I CANXOT tell what you and other men 

"Think of tliis life; but for my single self, 

" I had as lief not be, as live lo be 

" In awe of such a thing as I myself." — Julius Casar, Act I 



PUBUSHED FOR THE SOUTHERN RIGHTS ASSOCIATION, 



CHARLESTON: 

STEAM POWER PRESS OF WALKER <fe JAMES, 

1850. 



/-" 



^M 



i 3 o-y-^ 



ERRATA. 



Page 15, for "at the first shock. The two small cities" ^c, read al the first shock, 

tlie two small cities," &c., 
Tage 21, fcr "Pertunl Sluveiy,'" read "perpetual slaver}'." 
Page .32, chap, fi, line 5, for "immorlality" read "iininorality. 
Page 54, line 11, for "means" read "meanings." 
Page CO, line 3, (from bottom,) for "mostly'' read "most costly," 
Page GO, In note at bottom of page, fir ''see page 70," read "see page 27." 
Page 87. line 24, for "deducted" read "deduced." 
Page 93, line 2, for "a shut cold,'" read a shot could." 
Page 111, line 12, for "a co-equal" read "a co-cqual state." 



INTRODUCTION AND DEDICATION. 



CHAPTER I. 



It was once the favourite speculation of Statesmen and historians, how long 
the American Commonwealth would endure. It was on all sides predicted that 
its duration would be longer than any empire which has hitherto existed ; for it 
was a truth, universally admitted, that all the advantages which ever attended 
any of the monarchies of the old world, centered in the new ; together with many 
others, which they never enjoyed. The four great empires, and the dominions of 
Charlemaigne and the Turks, all rose by conquests ; none by the arts of peace. 
On the contrary, the United States of America have heen populated and increased 
by causes entirely natural. From this circumstance it was fondly argued that 
our government would last forever ; our own convictions, however, and the testi- 
mony of innumerable facts, tend to the reverse conclusion ; and render it proba- 
ble, that as the increase of strength, vigour and capacity of the body politic, is 
owing, as in the human body, to internal and natural causes ; so is that body lia- 
ble to the disease and corruption of its imperfect nature, and doomed to decay 
and dissolution. Man's allotted time, his three score years and ten, have scarcely 
passed since our national birth, yet do we hear the warning voice, and see the 
mouldering marks of time. Unalterable facts assure us how rapidly the body is 
sinking to decay ; how surely the soul, the immortal spirit of our Constitution, 
is pluming its wing for its everlasting flight; and how soon we may expect our 
final, unalterable, eternal dissolution. 

At a time like this, when the whole country is agitated by one all absorbing 
question. When the government is perplexed, interrupted, and impeded in its 
operations by the power of this one overwhelming question. When sages are 
straining every nerve to quiet this agitation, by permanently obviating every dif- 
ficulty involved in this one isolated question. When Statesmen are grappling, 
hand to hand, for the Avelfare of posterity. When old age sighs and youth 
frowns over the ti'oubled aspect of this convulsing question. When right and 
justice, peace and happiness, life and property are at stake. When the efficacy 
of law, the dignity of government, and the validity of constitutions, hang on the 
decision of this one question. When the tranquillity of a continent, the decencies 
of society, and the birth-right of a race depend on the arrangement of this dis- 
torted question. It may not perhaps be presumption on the part of an obscure 
individual to lay before the public the result of his search after facts which belong 
to the history of this question. 

There is, perhaps, not a citizen of the United States who does not, from time 
to time, hear something, read something, or think something about this wide- 
spread question ; but there are, perhaps, comparatively few who have either time 
or inclination to forsake their daily avocations at the plough or the anvil, the 
loom or the desk, the store or the counting-room ; to pour over musty books and 
dry discussions in order to find a few historical facts which are interesting and 
valuable when obtained ; but tedious in obtaining. All are doubtless pleased to 
know and converse about any thing which has a bearing on this question ; but 



4 THE DISUNIONIST ; OB, 

few are willing ©r able to s|)end their time in collecting authentic infornnatiou 
from the variety of sources necessary to be resorted to. » 

If, therefore, we ])resent any circumstance to the mind of the reader, with 
which lie is not already acquainted, or which may have escaped his recollection ; 
we will have done for him that which he could not conveniently have done for 
himself And it is in accordance witli the gratification experienced on the peru- 
sal of this brief essay that he would have it esteemed. 

We claim to have suggested no new idea, nor do we set up any pretension to 
originality ; on the contrary. Me obtain every material part from the works of 
others whose information or judgment we deem s\jperior to our own. Every 
endeavour has been made to collect established facts from the best authority, and 
to please the reader by being brief 

In Mur allusions to scripture, our object has not been to defend slavery, except, 
indeed it should be done incidentally— we believe tlie defence of shivery in a re- 
ligious, moral and political jioint of view, to be a woi'k which has long since beeu 
thoroughly accomplished. But we refer to scripture with precisely the same ob- 
ject we have resorted to the Koran, or to the writings of Josephus ; purely with 
a view to the procurement of authenticated historical fiicts and dates wherewith 
to frame a brief historical sketch of the institution of slavery. 

Our essay is addressed to the slaveholders of the South particularly, and the 
citizens of the slaveholding States at large. We would call iipon them for their 
united efforts, and would remind them of the absolute necessity of union for the 
sake of defence. Though our remarks are not addressed to Northern men, nor 
to abolitionists, wherever they may be ; yet we would feel great satisfaction to 
know that any of them have read these chapters and been benefitted by the 
truths they contain 

For the sake of brevity we will denominate all the non-shueholding States the 
north, and all the Slaveholding States the South. And in conclusiun we would 
remark that if the South, in order to defend the oldest and most time-honoured 
institution extant, in order to defend the rights transmitted to us by our fathers, 
or to defend the |)ro]ierty we recoi\e from the great master of all things ; if to 
defend these the South is forced to cast off all connection with corrupt sovereign- 
ties, and to dissolve its union with the North, and set up its own government to 
suit itself and its peculiar institutions and pursuits ; we will endeavour to cotmect 
such ficts as may lead to the correct conclusion as to the probable advantages of 
suth a mea-iure. 

With this slight apology then for the intrusion at this time of an essay ema- 
nating from one so httle known as we are, we would respectfully submit it to the 
citizens of the slaveholding States with the assurance that we are by birth, inte- 
rest, and predilection one of them. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY, 



CHAPTER II. 

" I grant this argument is old, but truth 
No years impair ; and had uot this been true, 
Thou never hadst despised it for its age : 
Truth is immortal as tliy soul, and fable 
As fleeting as thy joys." 

To appreciate the merits of an institution, and to compi-ehend tlie claims of 
any custom to the, resj)ect of society, it is essential that we should be well ac- 
quainted with the history and the object of them. Let us then distinctly under- 
etand the nature of slavery, and for this purpose glance at its history, that we 
may become acquainted with it in all its bearings. The leading questions which 
would naturally occur to most minds would seem to be, when and where did 
slavery originate? What caused it, or how was it brought about? And what 
are the leading features of it? 

It is impossible to determine positively, how and when slavery first occurred, 
there being no conc'iisive evidence to be had on the subject. But so far as hu- 
man reasoning is to be relied on, it appears evident that it must have arisen out 
of the naltire <>f things. On the authority of Aristotle we can unhesitatingly 
■ay, that " in the natural state of man, from tiie origin of things, a portion of the 
human family must command, and the remainder obey ; that the distinction 
•which exists between master and servants, is a distinction at once natural and 
indispensable ; and that when we find existing among men, freemen and slaves, 
it is not man, but nature herself, who has ordained the distinction." As to how 
this relation could have arisen out of the nature of things, it can easily be con- 
ceived. At the expulsion fi'om Paradise of our first parents, they and their de- 
scendants were ever condemned to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. 
That is to say, it was ordained, that man to live must labour. But as the family 
increased, we have evidence, there was a division of labour ; some tilling the 
earth, and others keeping flocks. Moreover, at this early period man had rt% in- 
strument but his hand, and no science to guide him ; yet he was compelled to 
subject the earth to cultivation, and to labour industriously. Now this labour 
must have been, to a greater or less degree, shared by the whole family, and as 
the result of nature, the child must have been taught and compelled by the pa- 
rent to labour as he increased in years. Thus every child, as he became older, 
was required by liis riatural siqyerior to labour according to the directions he 
received. The parent having supreme authority over his cliild, possessed in him 
a slave as imi)licitly obedient as any African slave of the present day ; and that 
the younger were not compelled to perform the more servile and menial offices 
for the older can hardly be sup])0sed. 

But in order to come up to the more extended views of the present-day phi- 
lanthropy, let us take a more enlarged view of primitive society, and see if rea- 
son does not bring us to the belief that slavery must have sprung from the very 
nature of things. 

However thoroughly convinced the abolitionist or philanthropist of the present 
day may be, that the interests of the great mass of poor people, as well as the 
amelioration of their miserable condition, ought to be the care of the powerful 
and wealthy ; it is nevertheless an absolute truth, that such is not the state of 
affairs in any primitive condition of society. And no further evidence of the ab- 
solute necessity of slavery, in some form or other, for the comfort and well being 
of the human race, in its earlier stages of society, can be desired, than the well 
known universnlity of its existence in every nation of every climate since the 
world bearan. 



6 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

But few words are sufficient to account for this truth. When man was in his 
primitive state he possessed no property except the few necessaries lie derived 
from the store of nature. Such a thing as capital, or a " value of exchange," 
was utterly unknown. Man's capital was his mind and body, his profession or 
occupation was that of appropriating to his use the few articles his body craved, 
and which nature supplied him with in return for his etlbrts ; and the only value 
these few articles could possibly bear was the " value of use." In the course of 
time, however, the race increased, and the habitations of man Avere gradually ex- 
tended along the pleasant streams and valleys of the neighborhood, until a day's 
journey would perhaps intervene betAveen the abode of the nearest relations. '! he 
development of mind successively called for new exertions of the body ; space 
was passed over, new scenes became attractive, new fruits were plucked, new 
homes were made, and, apace with all, new men were born, who lived to extend 
the migrations their fathers had commenced. But Avhilst time served to dfevelop 
these circumstances, it served also to create many necessary accompanyments, 
conspicuous among which was the transfer of those articles which were originally 
appropriated from the bounty of nature, and which may be styled the transfer of 
property. Soon followed the exchange of these articles, or of this property, and 
then immediately springs up a new value in these articles, and that is the 
" value of exchange.''' Then comes the idea of traffic, and its result, a desire to 
accumulate these articles to an amount over and above the demands of the indi- 
vidual body ; this property brings influence, and this influence is a guarantee of 
power. But since property has thus become an object of life, the accumulation 
of these arlicles is the aim of all ; avarice and ambition germinate apace ; those 
that are honest adhere to the old custom of appropriation and industry, and those 
who are wicked steal. Some become rich, some remain poor. But the rich have 
influence, and they have the power to assist and protect the poor. Now the 
vicious poor do violence to their weaker neighbours, through envy, hatred or 
malice, or for the purpose of plundering their scanty stores. The rich are ap- 
pealed to by the injured poor, or may be the helpless poor are rescued by the 
sympathising rich ; but however that may be, the rich and poor thus brought to- 
gether, make common their cause ; the poor that they may be protected by the 
influence or the power of the rich, and the rich that they may derive new sources 
of wealth and new fountains of power, from the grateful hearts and willing hands 
of the relieved poor. 

Property becomes more insecure, and violence more universal ; there is no 
safety for the weak and the poor, but with the rich and powerful. This lower 
class then glides surely into the power of the higher class, which is in such a state 
of things at least j)rac(icalli/ the superior of the two. What then must be the 
inevitable result ? Let the philanthropist look into the heart of man, and see 
whether this higher class will concern itself for the care and protection of the 
lower, without exacting at least what is deemed an egtdvalent for the security and 
comfort bestowed. Who will dictate terms. The high or the low ; the strong 
or the weak ; the rich or the poor; the secure or the insecure; the unruffled gi- 
ant in his quiet abode, or the panic stricken wretch who pleads for life under his 
most redoubted protection ? What will the terms be ? And — what, according 
to modern philanthropy is worse than any terms of miserable dependence — what 
specious name will be given to the relation thus springing out of the course 
of these events. The answer is slavery. Slavery at least in fact, let it be what 
it may in iiamc. 

Argument is not needed to convince the plainest intellect of this unavoidable 
result. It must be remembered that in the primitive times to which we allude, 
because "humanity, justice, and policy; so powerful in civihzed ages, are then 
unknov.ii, ;uul tlic sulil-rings of the destitute are as nmch disregarded as those of 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 7 

the lower animals ;" and because " compulsion is the only power which can ren- ^ 
der labour general in the many ages which must precede the influence of artificial 
wants, or a general taste for its fruits ;" it follows as the inevitable result, that 
supreme power over, or a clear right of property in " the person and labour of the 
poor is the only inducement which could be held out to the opulent to take them 
under their protection." 

Now either of these relations of the person and labour of the poor is insepa- 
rabfti from the idea of slavery. In the first case where one man has supreme 
power over the person of another man, we would certainly say the one was the mas- 
ter and the other the slave. And likewise in the second case, where one man 
has the right of property in the person of another, he not only has supreme 
power over the person, but can transmit or resign that power to another at his 
discretion, and can set his value (of exchange) upon the property. This would 
assuredly be called slavery. If this then is slavery, and the conjectures we have 
laid down as to primitive society be correct ; we can feel no hesitation in saying 
that slavery originally sprung out of the circumstances of society, and was the un- ^ 
avoidable result of man's nature and relations. Nor are we, upon the whole, 
loath to extract from the works of a distinguished historian* who decries slavery, 
the following very comprehensive remarks. "The varieties of human character, 
the different degrees of intellectual or physical strength with which men are en- 
dowed, the consequences of accident, misfortune, or crime, the destitution and '^ 
helpless state of the poor in the infancy of civihzation, early introduce the dis- 
tinction of ranks, and precipitate the lower orders into that state of dependance 
on their superiors which is known by the name of slavery. This institution, 
however odious its name has now justly become, is not an eril when it first arises ; 
it only becomes such by being continued in circumstances different from those in 
which it originated, and in times when the protection it affords to the poor is no 
longer required." And " how miserable soever the condition of slaves may be 
in those unruly times, they are incomparably better off than they would have 
been if they had incurred the destitution of freedom. 

Let us return to the question, when and where did slavery originate ? Where 
shall we look for an answer but into history, and what history more ancient, or 
more to be relied on than the Pentateuch. There then let us search for any evi- 
dence on the subject of the origin of slavery. From the first chapter to the mid- 
dle of the u-inth of Genesis, is the only history of the world, before the flood, 
now extant, and in it there is no mention of any thing like slavery. But imme- 
diately after the ebbing of the waters of this mighty deluge, we find a distinct 
and unequivocal creation of slavery ; a clear and comprehensive decree, ordina- 
tion, and injunction of that relation of servant and master which we call slavery. 
It is in these words :f 

" And the sons of Noali tliat went forth of tlie ark, were Shem, and Ham and Japheth : 
and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah ; and of them was the 
whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he phxnted a vineyard: 
and he drank of the wine, and was drunken ; and he was uncovered within his tent. And 
Hail', the fother of Canaan, saw the nakedness of liis father, and told his brethren without. 
And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went 
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father ; and their faces were backward, and 
they saw not their fathers nakedness. And Noah awoke from Ids wine, and knew what his 
younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall 
he be unto his lirethren. And he said, blessed be the Lord God of Shem ; and Canaan shall 
be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and 
Canaan shall be his servant." 

Here is the earliest record of the institution of slavery that could possibly be 
* Allison's History of Europe, Vol. 2, No. 1. f Genesis, chap, ix, 18. 



8 THE disunionist; or, 

desired. For what wild dreamers has ever dreamt of going back into the anti-di- 
luvian world to senrch fur the history or traditions ot society so primitive and 
remote, or in hopes of finding ought concerning a custom, which we may rea- 
sonably suppose was nut known by any distinct appellation, though universally 
existing. 

Thouo-h there can be no doubt as to the existence of slavery before the flood, 
yet in the absence of any authority for a positive assertion on the subject, we will 
be content to confine ourselves to the post-diluvian world ; and with Moses as our 
venerable authority, we say, that Noah instituted, created, or ordained slavery : 
and Canaan the innocent oftspring of his own loins, was by him made a slave. 
All this was done by the delegated authority of God himself. We are then fully 
prepared to answer the question, when did slavery begin, by saying it began in 
the year 2348 befure Christ, which is the date of Canaans curse. Can any abo- 
litionist deny this ? 

It mav be urged here, by those disposed to be foolish, that the word servant 
does not imply involuntary servitude, or what we term slavery at the present 
day. It is true the word o^ itself does not always imply African slavery, or any 
other kind of bondage, but taken in the present connection it can imply nothing 
else than involuntary servitude. "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall 
he be etc.''^ There is no choice in this, there is no appeal from this severe man- 
date ; Canaan is cursed for his father's sin, and the nature of the curse is that he 
shall be a se.rva,nt, willing or not though he be. 

Assuming this to be the beginning of slavery, let us follow up the records ; 
for it is important that every Southern man should be acquainted with the histo- 
ry of an institution of such vital consequence, and which bears so powerfully 
upon the very existance of his State, the peact of his family, and the dignity of 
his birthright. And we must not be astunished to find that the descendants of 
Canaan, for hundreds of years after the curse was pronounced by Noah, were 
the slaves of the descendants of Shem ; the very one in whose tent Canaan was 
condemned to be a slave. We must not be astonished to find that even as late 
as the time of Moses and Joshua — 1490 years B. C. — and nearly one thousand 
years afwr Canaan's curse, his descendants became the miserable slaves of the 
descendants of Shem. We say we must not be astonished, for it was the unal- 
terable will of God ; and his will on this subject bar. never been disputed till the 
superb refinements of the nineteenth century sprTmg up to put it to the blush. 

But to return to history. The next mention of the subject we meet with, of 
any material consequence in our present purpose, is the sale of Joseph by his 
brothers, in the year 1729 B. C. The aftair is thus related : 

"And Judah said unto his brethren, what profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal 
his blood i Come, let us sell him to the IshmeaUtes, and let not our hand be upon him ; for 
he is our brother, and our flesh ; and his brethren were content. Then there passed by Mi- 
dianites, merchantmen ; and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph 
to the Ishniealites for twenty pieces of silver : and they brought Joseph into Egypt," and 
" the Midianites sold him into Egypt, unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharoah's, and captain of 
the guard."* 

Thus it appears, at this early period it was not only customary to hold men in 
bondage, but also to buy and sell them as articles of traffic ; for it must be evi- 
dent to all, that the idea suggested by Judah was no new thing ; on the contra- 
ry, we have every right to suppose that it was a common custom to buy and sell 
men the same as other kinds of property ; for if it were not then a common 
custom, would all of Joseph's brothers so readily have consented to the mea- 
sure ? Would the merchantmen so readily have purchased him ? Or would 

* Genesis, chap, xxxvii. 26. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 

Pharoah's officer have dared to purchase him from the merchants, if it was not 
lawful to traffic in slaves. These conclusions are borne on the very face of the 
occurrence. 

We hence date our first accounts of the slave traffic as far back as the year 1729 
B. C. And though we have every reason to believe that this traffic was carried 
on long before this date, yet in the absence of positive evidence to that effect, we 
are willing to say, the slave trade existed in the year 1729 13. C, and has been 
carried on ever since. 

This feature in slavery, that is the slave trade,* seems to have drawn down the 
especial indignation of present-day philanthropists. Indeed this is the principal 
objection urged against the system we practice at the South, and it is in fact the 
only material difference between African slavery at the South, and European sla- 
very in Europe, or Northern slavery at the North. And though il is so much 
objected to, we find in the records of Moses that it is the oldest distinctive feature 
of slavery ; and, moreover, that one of the sublimest evidences of God's omnipo- 
tence, the conducting liis chosen [.)eople to the promised land, in connection with 
his curse on Canaan, the final realization of which took up a space of nearly one 
thousand years. All this we find, turns on the selling of Joseph, a slave, into 
Egypt. Joseph, a descendant of Shem, sold into bondage, that the curse of the 
Almighty upon certain of Hams descendants, might be fearfully executed four 
hundred years after, under the inspiration of Moses and the guidance of Joshua. 

After experiencing various vicissitudes, we find him exalted to wealth and 
honor, and in the enjoyment of the confidence of the King himself. But every 
body knows how Jacob, his father, (also called Israel,) was induced to visit Egypt, 
and how Egypt became the abode of the Israelites for a few hundred years, and 
how they finally migrated to the promised land. And it must appear evident to 
every reader of the liistory of those remote ages, that even from the time of the 
dispersion of men after the flood — God had a peculiar regard for certain of 
Shem's descendants who were afterwards to be called his own ; and that he also 
directed the steps of Canaan's descendants, with a view to the fulfilment of the 
curse pronounced by Noah. He pointed out the country which the former were 
to inherit ; he caused to be possessed by another laborious nation, who applied 
themselves to cultivate and adorn it, and to improve, by all possible methods, the 
future inheritance of the Israelites. He then fixed, in that country, the like 
number of families, as were to be settled in it, when the sons of Israel should, at 
the appointed time take possession of it ; and did not suffer any of the nations, 
which ivere not s%ihject to the czirse pronounced by Noahayainst Canaan, to enter 
an inheritance that was to be yiven up entirely to the Israelites.^ 

And, in confirmation of all that has been said, it is remarked by an American 
writer.J whose work is compiled from those of the most eminent commentators of 
the Scriptures, that " Noah on a memorable occasion was inspired to declare the 
future condition of his sons, and of their posterity. Moved by the spirit of God 
to utter his holy oracle, Noah said, 'cursed be Canaan, etc.'" ***** 

Japheth was the eldest son of Noah, and his name signifies enlargement, and 
his posterity have been surprisingly extended ; for they have peopled Europe, 
Asia Minor, part of Armenia, the whole of the regions north of Mount Taurus, 
and probably of America. || 

* When we use the term " slave trade," we mean the legitimate trade, the bona fide ex- 
change of a bona fide slave for a bona fide equivalent. The African slave trade, properly 
speaking, must of course be included in the general term " slave trade," but the thefts and 
abductions, frauds and violence, said by abolitionists to be practised in Africa, are of course 
unworthy of the term trade, and is, therefore, not alluded to when we speak of the slave 
trade. 

f Rollins' Ancient History, vol. 1. 

l Sears' Bible Biography. J Genesis, chap, x, 2-5. 



10 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

Sbein signifies renown, and his feme has been truly great, both temporally and 
spiritually. His descendants occupied the finest regions of upper and central 
A^ia, particularly Armenia, Media, Persia. Syria, etc. Shems chief renown, how- 
ever, consisted in his being the ancestor of Abraham, and the nation of Israel, 
and especially of the Messiah, the seed of the woman, to which it is thought that 
Noah might allude, when he exclaimed — " blessed be the Lord God of Shem!" 

Ham or Cham, signifies black or bunft, perhaps indicating the sultry regions 
which his descendants should occupy, or the dark complexion they should pos- 
sess, or both. ******, Canaan and his sons occupied Syria, Ca- 
naan and Palestine ; and the sons of Misraim* peopled Egypt, Lybia and Af- 
rica.f 

Ham and his son had dishonored their venerable father, and upon them be 
pronounced the prophetical malediction : cursed be Canaan, etc. In accordance 
with this denunciation, the devoted nations which God destroyed before the Isre- 
alites, were descended from Canaan : so were the Phoenicians and the Carthage- 
nians, who were subjugated with the most terrible destruction by the Greeks and 
Romans. And the African nations, whose miseries have become proverbial through 
the world for the last three centuries, and even to our times, by the operations of 
the horrible slave trade, are also descended from Ham, the son of Noah." 

The next feature we observe on this subject, is one which would naturally fol- 
low from the first ; for if we would sell a slave, it would be but a modification of 
the same act to sell his services for a given time, or in other words, to hire him to 
another. This custom of hiring slaves, we find recorded in a very early age. Let 
it however be distinctly borne in mind what a marked difference there is, between 
hiring one's self for one's own personal benefit, and being hired for the benefit of 
another. Thus, a freeman may hire his services to another, and receive the wa- 
ges of his labor ; yet his freedom is not permanently effected, it is only condi- 
tionally qualified, he is only in part, and for a time a slave, and that too volunta- 
rily, for it is a voluntary agreement, or, at least, is to be supposed so. 

On the other hand, if one man hires the services of another to a third person, 
and bargains for and receives the wages, regardless of the will of the individual 
hired, why that individual is no party in the contract, he is the matter under con- 
tract, the material upon which the others operate, and is a slave in the broadest 
sense of the terra ; he must be either a bondman, or else a freeman in a most sla- 
>'ish position. 

It is to this species of hiring we allude, when we say we find it recorded in the 
history of the most remote ages. This feature ranks next in antiquity to that of 
buying and selling. As to the other kind of hiring, where a man who calls him- 
self free, is forced through dire poverty to render iiimself the menial of another 
for a miserable support; where a free born man condemns himself — or rather, 
we should say, is condemed by the circumstances which surround him — to serve, 
and plod, and drag out a miserable existence, performing the most menial offices, 
submitting to the most degrading and demoralizing conditions; or else living in a 
state of half starvation, and in rags ; shivering in the poverty, disease and vice 
flowing from the most unpardonable idleness and ignorance; a stranger to the 
common decencies of life; unconscious of the moaning of the grand word Uherty, 
so constantly in his mouth ; in some instances absolutely ignorant of the existence 
of a God, and a perfect stranger to the rays of the sun : glorying in his freedom, 
rejoicing over his liberty, notwithstanding he that very day bartered his vote, 
the index of his liberty, at the ballot-box ; all these are the results of modern 
refinement, the glorious results of wisdom and philanthropy. It is an exalted 

* Misraim was, according to Rollins, the first King of Egypt, 
f Genesis, cliap. x, 6 20. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 11 

system of hireling slavery, far above the kind we allude to, and perhaps better 
suited to the tastes and the pockets of those who conduct it, than any other could 
possibly be. 

The first mention we have seen made of hiring slaves, was at the building of 
Solomon's Temple, about one thousand and fourteen years before Christ. 

Solomon having determined to erect this grand edifice, immediately set about 
to gatiier his workmen, and collect all the material requisite for so vast an under- 
taking. Being a wise man, he soon perceived that his own people could not carry 
out his views without the assistance of others better skilled in the art of building, 
and hewing timber. Being also on the most friendly terms with Hiram, King of 
Tyre, he first communicates his intentions to that monarch, and then proceeds in 
the following words : " now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar 
trees out of Lebanon ; and my servants shall be with thy servants : and unto 
thee will I give hire for thy servants, according to all that thou shall appoint : for 
thou kuowest that there is not among us any that can skill to hew timber like 
unto the Sidonians. ****** And Hiram sent to Solomon, say- 
ing, I have considered the things which thou sentest to me for ; and I will do all 
thy desire concerning timber of cedar, and concerning timber of fir. My ser- 
vants shall bring them down from Lebanon unto the sea: and I will convey them 
by sea in floats unto the place that thou shall appoint me. and will cause them to 
be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them : and thou shalt accompHsh my 
desire in giving food for my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and 
fir trees, according to all his desire. And Solomon gave Hiram twenty thousand 
measures of wheat for food to his household, and twenty measures of pure oil : 
thus gave Solomon to Hiram year l>y year."* 

Now it may be supposed by those who have read the account of this transac- 
tion as it is recorded by Josephus, that the servants here spoken ^f were not 
bondmen, but that the word is used to signify subjects.f It is true they were 
two powerful monarchs who were negotiating, and they may well have termed 
their subjects servants. It would, however, be an error to suppose that such was 
the application of the term in this case, for in the sacred record of the affiiir — 
which must be admitted as the highest authority — we are distinctly informed that 
bondmen were employed, and we are, moreover, told that Solomon collected 
workmen from among the conquered Canaanites who were under Noah's curse. 
This being more than thirteen hundred years after the curse was uttered. " But 
of the children of Isreal did Solomon make no bondmen ;" from " all the people 
that were le^'t of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which 
■were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in the 
land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly lo destroy, upon those 
did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service unto this day."J 

The natural subjects of Solomon, the tribe of Israel, furnished his armies, and 
offices of trust and honour ;|| and, in the building of the temple, they supplied 
the superintendants and overseers. " These were the chief of the officers that 
were over Solomon's work, five hundred and fifty (children of Israel) which bore 
rule over the people that wrought in the work." Heie, then, we have the grand- 
est building the world ever saw, the finest specimens of art and ingenuity, 
the noblest applications of mechanical philosophy, all the work of hired and 
domestic slaves, whose operations were jierforined uiider the immediate super- 
intendance of free overseers ; though under the general direction of the wisest 
man of the times. And there can be no question, in view of innumerable facts, 

* 1 Kings, 5, 6. 

f See Josephus, Vol. 2, page 140. 

1 1 Kings, ix, 15, 23. 2 Sam. 5, 9. Ps. 51, 18. Joa. 16, 10-17, 11-and 19, 36. 

j Josephus, vol. 2, p. 159. 



12 • THB DIS0NIONIST ; OR, 

that the same decree which kept the descendants of Canaan in slavery, for so 
many series of ages then, has served the same end since, serves the same end 
now, and must continue in the fulfilment of his designs until the author of it 
sees fit to suspend its terrible effects. That the negro slaves of the South can be 
the descendants of any other than Canaau, is too improbable to be discussed. 

Thus far, we have ascertained beyond doubt. 

First, That slavery existed, by virtue of law, four thousand one hundred and 
ninety-eight years ago. 

Second, That the slave trade flourished three thousand, five hundred and 
seve7i,ty-7iine years ago. 

Third, That the custom of hiring slaves prevailed two thousand, eight hun- 
dred and sixty-four years ago. 

In view of this, we are prepared to assert that the Southern slaveholding 
States, in defending themselves against the innovations of Northern legislation, 
are not only defending what remains of their inde'pendance and sovereignty, but 
they are defending the oldest, and most tiine-honoured, institution of society. 

Let us briefly examine the practice of it, as it existed in the civilized nations 
of every age, and compare it with our own. And, in doing this, we will not fail 
to see that, whatever may be the condition of man, his composition is still the 
same — his nature is unchanged, and his prime motives have always been the 
same. His system of government, and particularly that department which 
relates to slavery, though frequently changing, is but the perfection of what it 
was in its primitive state. 

In taking this cursory glance at the history of the world, for the history of 
slavery is nothing else, let us be content to look into the more prominent circum- 
stances ; for, if we find a continual resemblance and identity of principle in 
the most important points, we may disregard those of minor consideration, and 
attribute discrepancies among them to local causes, or the incidents of the times. 

The principal causes which have brought about slavery, are, first, crime, either 
against the State or against the Creator ; of this nature was the cause of Canaan's 
condemnation. In ancient States, on account of crime, some were condemned to 
temporary, and some to perpetual slavery. 

Capture has been a most fruitful source. Prisoners taken in battle were, in 
most cases, made slaves, either to serve the conquering governments on the public 
works ; or were distributed among the victors, as private property ; or they were 
sold to fill the jiublic coffers ; or were ransomed. It was one of the effects of 
the laws of chivahy, first, to set the captives at a certain price for their ransom ; 
and more latterly, it became the practice for belligerent powers to exchange their 
prisoners, on fair and equitable terras. 

Debt has also been the cause of slavery, sometimes temporary, sometimes per- 
petual. 

Theft, treachery, or misrepresentation have, in some instances, been the caus© 
of it. The case of Josej^h's sale, by his brothers, oomes under this head. 

Birth has doomed millions to this state of subjection. Children born of slave 
parents, as a natural consequence, inherit their parents' state, and are slaves them- 
selves. At the present time, this is the chief cause of slavery in the civilized 
world. 

It was an Egy^itian law, of great antiquity, that wilful murder should be pun- 
ished by death, whatever might be the condition of the murdered person, whether 
he was freeborn or otherwise.* And, in this respect, the equity of the Egyp- 
tians was similar to ours, and superior to that of the Romans, for they gave the 
master the absolute power, of life and death, over his slave. In fact, this law 

* Rollins' Ancient History, Vol. 1, p. 127. 



SECESSION, THE RtGHTFUL REMEDY. 13 

was peculiar to the Egyptians, and was a distinguishing feature in the regulations 
of slavery, from those of other ancient States. 

Among the Ancient Jews^ slaves were acquired as captives in war, and those 
thus obtained appear to have been kept in bondage for the remainder of their 
hfe. Theft was sometimes«p'unished with temporary bondage.f The creditor of 
an insolvent debtor had power to enslave the family, as well as the person of the 
debtor,! in a similar manner as in the preceding case of a theft: that is, until the 
debt was, in some way, made good, or the equivalent of the stolen property was 
restored. Slavery originated at birth, among them as among us : that is to say, 
chiklren inherited the condition of their mothers, just as, at the present day, in 
our land. Slaves were not permitted to give evidence in a couit of justice,"§ for 
it was supposed that improper motives might induce them to give false testimony. 
So, in our courts, slaves are not permitted to appear as witnesses against a free 
white man, nor is any oath administered when they are brought to give evidence 
in a case where those of their own condition are concerned. 

It was enjoined that no freeman should marry a slave, however desirous such 
a union miglit be to the parties concerned :|| for it was considered disparao-ing to 
the one, and detracting from the requisite discipline incidental to the condition of 
the other. So with us, such a thing is not tolerated, as a white man marrying a 
slave. 

A remarkable point of resemblance between the Jewish and our system of 
slavery, is the fact, that slaves wei'e originally brought from abroad : " Both thy 
bondmen and thy bondmaids, which thuu shalt have, shall be of the heathen 
which are round about you : of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 
And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit 
them for a possession ; they shall be your bondmen forever."*[[ 

Now, in some systems of slavery, certain descriptions of slaves had the right, 
under certain circumstances, to claim their freedom, at the expiration of a certain 
time, or when they became able to j)ay a certain sum of money, as a ransom; 
and in some, the death of the master was a signal fur the emancipation of the 
slaves. But in the Jewish, and in our systems, slaves were procured from abroad. 
The Jews possessed themselves from the heathens round about them ; we from 
the heathens of Africa — all being the descendants of the same Canaan. The 
Jews handed down tliis species of property, from father to son, and the property 
was contined to the same race, from generation to generation. We inherit, from 
our fathers, this same kind of property, and it has been confined, for generations, 
to the African race. In short, we tind every important prineijtle, of law or cus- 
tom, which existed in the earliest ages of slavery, either entirely preserved, with- 
out change or modification, or else merely shaped and moulded in conformity 
with the princij)les of Christianity. 

The religion, policy and government — the customs, manners, social habits pre- 
vailing among men — their very languages, arts, sciences and amusements — all 
have changed; but man is still the same, and the fundamentnl essence of slavery 
is unaltered and unalterable, whether it be viewed with regard to the j)hysical or 
moral world. 

In ancient Greece, slavery existed to a very great extent, and the laws regula- 
ting it were more rigorous than those of the Jews, or of our times. Slaves were • 
obtained by conquest in battle, by a voluntary sale of themselves, for the means 
of supjiort, in payment of debt, by ])urchase from abroad, and by inheritance. 

In Sparta, slavery sprang uj) with the city, and is almost as remote in its origin, 
as a civil institution of the State, as the foundations of the town : for, in the 

•j- Exodus, xii., 2, 3. % II. Kinjs, iv., 1, Mat. x\iil., 25. § Josephus. vol. i., p. 264. 

i Josephus, vol. i., 268. «| Leviticus, xxv., 39. 



14 THE DISUNIONIST ; OK, 

earliest days of Lacedamonia, a city not far from Sparta, called Elos, was captured, 
and the inhabitants reduced to slavery.* The Helots, or slaves, were, in the first 
instance, for political purposes, ti't-ated with extreme rigour, and afterwards were 
the miserable victims of the misguided jihilosophy and the heathen superstitions 
of their masters. They were, uuijuestionably, au oppressed people. 

The freemen of Sparta, devoting their time entirely to the pursuits of w^ar, or 
the affairs of State, left the very necessary management of agriculture, and the 
raising of stock, and all other domestic concerns, almost exclusively in the hands 
of their slaves. The number of slaves in Greece varied from ten to twenty times 
that of the free citizens. Spartan slaveholders seem to have had, at least in some 
instances, the power of life and death over their slaves. But we are inclined to 
think that this was an abuse, and not legal usage. 

In their tribunals of justice, slaves were not permitted to bear testimony, nor 
to defend their cause personally ; but, as in our courts, the master could always 
secure competent legal defence for his slave. On some occasions, of extreme 
emergency, a portion of the slaves were armed, and assisted in the common de- 
fence. But it has ever been the exclusive prerogative of the freeman to conduct 
battles and campaigns, both in ancient and modern times. This principle has 
never been permanently departed from since slavery began. 

Among the Athenians, the code of discipline was less rigorous than at Sparta. 
Slaves, there, were allowed to participate in many of the ordinary pleasures and 
amusements of the times, and weie permitted to acquire property and hold 
estates, always, how'ever, paying a tribute to their masters. In cases of aggravated 
cruelty, the temple of Thesus was an inviolable sanctuary. If a slave received 
injury at the hands of any individual, he was, under his master's control, permitted 
to proceed, by a course of law, to seek redress before the public tribunals. 

Society, in Athens, was divided into three great classes — citlztMs, strangers and 
servants. 

A citizen could only be such by birth or adoption. To be a natural denizen 
of Athens, it was necessary to be born of a father and mother both free, and 
Athenians.! 

A stranger was one who, being of a foreign country, came to settle at Athens, 
or in Attica, whether for the sake of commerce, or the exercising of any trade. He 
took no share in the government, could not vote in the assembly of the people, 
and could hold no office. 

There were two classes denominated servants. Those were free, but not able 
to earn bread by their labour, and were consequently obliged, by the wretched 
state of their affairs, to go into Si-rvice ; and those who were involuntarily forced 
into service. These latter were slaves, who had either been taken prisoners in 
■war or bought of such as trafficked publicly in them. Part of their master's 
estate consisted in them, who disposed absolutely of them, but generally treated 
them with great humanity. Demosthenes assures \is, in one of his harangues, 
" that the condition of servants was inlinitely more gentle at Athens than any- 
where else." And the equitable treatment which the Athenian slaves experienced 
is to be attributed chiefly to the natural suavity and good temper of their masters, 
which was so different from the austere and cruel severit}^ of the Lacademonians, 
^n regard to their slaves. 

On the island of Crete, when the laws of Minos flourished — from which, it is 
supposed, many of Lycurgus' were framed — the land was cultivated by slaves 
and hirelings, who were called Peri;eci, apparently from their being people in 
the neighbourhood, whom Minos had subjected. As an evidence of the spirit of 

* This originated the term Elotae, or Helot. See Rollins. 
■(• Rollins' Milliners and Customs of the Greeks. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 15 

the institution, in those remote times, among the Cretans, RoUins tells us a custom 
anciently established in Crete, from whence it was adopted by the Romans, gives 
us reason to believe that the vassals who manured the lands were treated with 
great goodness and favour. In the feasts of Mercury, the masters waited on their 
slaves at table, and did them the same offices as they received from them the rest 
of the year. 

The history of Syracuse, from the time of Gelon down to its subjection by the 
Romans, is an unbroken series of alterations, from slavery to fi-eedom, and from 
freedom back to slavery. It was sometimes enslaved by the most cruel tyrants ; 
at others, under the government of the wisest kings ; sometimes abandoned to* 
the capricious will of a populace, without either government or restriction ; some- 
times perfectly docile, and submissive to the authority of law and the empire of 
reason. It passed, alternately, from the most insupportable slavery to the most 
grateful liberty — from a kind of convulsions and frantic emotions, to a wise, 
peacable and' regular conduct. When left to themselves, the Syracusans allowed 
the liberty they enjoyed to degenerate into caprice, anarchy and phrenzy ; and, 
when subjected to the rule of others, they were the most submissive and degraded 
slaves. 

The empire of the Medes and Persians was nothing more than a vast commu- 
nity of slaves, and the pecuhar characteristics of the Asiatics, in general, was 
servitude and slavery;* As for the Persians, so great was the distance between 
the king and his subjects, that the latter, of what rank or quality soever, whether 
satrapse, governors, near relations, or even brothers to the king, were only looked 
upon as slaves ; whereas, the king himself was always considered, not only as 
their sovereign lord and master, but as a kind of divinity. 

The condition of the Asiatic slaves were, however, mitigated by the peculiar 
manners of those countries ; and, to this very day, the condition of a slave, in all 
the Eastern empires, dilTers but little from that of a domestic servant in modern 
Europe ;f even the enfranchised poor of France and England would find something 
to envy in their situation. Succour in sickness, employment in health, and main- 
tenance in old age, are important advantages, even in the best regulated States ; 
but, during the anarchy of ancient times, their value was incalculable. 

But here we must stay our pen, to insert a reflection which forces itself irre- 
sistibly upon us. It has been so frequently urged, that slavery, as a political '^ 
institution, is sure to weaken, and eventually ruin, the most powerful government, 
that many of the most enlightened advocates of abolition regard the proposition, 
with whatever collateral circumstances it may be attended, as an axiom. But, 
upon a careful consideration of all the glorious events of Grecian history, and 
particularly upon a review of those unparalleled struggles between Greece and 
Persia, first under Darius and afterwards under Xerxes, when " all Asia, armed 
with the whole force of the East, overflowed on a sudden, like an impetuous 
torrent, and came pouring, with innumerabje troops, both by sea and land, against 
a little spot of Greece, which seemed under the necessity of being entirely swal- 
lowed up and overwhelmed at the first shock." The two small cities, of Sparta and 
Athens, with the immense number of slaves they possessed, were able, not only to 
resist those formidable armies, but to attack, defeat, pursue, and destroy the great- 
est part of them. Can it be said of those cities, that the slaves they possessed 
were a weakness to them ? 

When it is remembered, that at no time during the palmiest days of Grecian 
glory and power, was the number of freemen one-half that of her slaves, can it v^ 
be maintained that slavery was a cause of political evil, or a source of military 
weakness ? Greece never declined from the lofty eminence she obtained, because 

* Rollina. \ Allison. 



16 THE DINUNIONIST; OB, 

she beld slaves. The cause of the declension of the Grecian States is ascribed, 
by every historian, to have sprunjr out of the disunion which rose up amongst 
themselves. When they became divided by domestic jealousies, and turned those 
armes ao-ainst themselves which had made them the masters of the world, they 
wrote in blood, on the indelible pages of history, a gloomy chapter, which should 
be read in tones of thunder to the miserable fanatics who are now sundering 
every tie which ever bound the States of this Union in one confederacy. 

Among the Romans, slavery was the result of each of the causes already 
mentioned. Captives in war were divided into two classes : those who surren- 
•dered without resistance, and those who resisted till they were conquered. The 
latter were generally those who were sold into bondage. Insolvent debtors were 
sometimes given to their creditors, in a species of slavery, but their bondage was 
not as absolute as in other cases. 

Among the Romans, we also find that, as in our system, the children of female 
slaves were the undisputed and natural property of the master; and this kind of 
property was inherited from generation to generation. Owners had unlimited 
power, and in many cases the power was abused ; and, before the light of Chris- 
tianity was effectually shed upon them, the master sometimes exercised his right 
to the extent of murder.* 

Workhouses, partaking oi the nature, though not entirely resembling those in 
use among us, were in use among them. Slaves were not permitted to appear 
as witnesses before a court of justice ; nor could they inherit property. No action 
by the civil law was given to a slave, nor c<ndd he personally appear to a suit, or 
suffer Condemnation. Slaves were never enlisted in the armies of Rome. There 
were shives attached to the soil, and public slaves, differing, in many respects, frum 
domestic slaves. 

Any further research, as to the practice of slavery among the Romans, maybe 
dispensed with by us, as an able expounder of the law,f writing in the Commer- 
cial Review, of 1846-7, has exhibited every point we would wish to expose. We 
will therefore close this portion of our sketch by borrowing his own instructive 
remarks. 

Among the Romans, '' very rigid and important provisions existed with respect 
to fugitive slaves. He who concealed a fugitive slave was declared to be a thief; 
and the highest reward given to those who, finding them in then-, possession, 
without delay conducted them before a magistrate, or surrendered them to their 
masters. By a constitution of Constantine, a severe penalty was incurred by 
concealing a slave. The ])arty was forced to restore a similar slave, or to pay 
twenty pieces of gold. The military were authorized to enter into the country 
houses, and upon lands of senators, and into the cottages of peasants, in search 
of fugitive slaves. Letters of the prince I'equired magistrates to |)rotect such 
persons as searched for these persons, under the penalty (jf one Inmdred pieces of 
gold, which was also the penalty presii'ibed for opposing them. Masters had 
also the light to demand the assistance of magistrates and the military, in aid of 
their recovery, and of the punishment of persons concealing them. The presi- 
dents of provinces had power to authorize a search into suspected mansions, and 
to prescribe a penalty in case of a refusal ; and even the jileasure house of the 
prince was not exempt from the scrutiny. 

"One arresting a fugitive slave was bound to convey him immediately before 
the magistrate, who was required to guard him in such manner as to |trevent his 
escape, and, for this purpose, he was authorized to cause him to be chained. 
Great c ire was taken to identify such fugitives. Their names, desciiptions, and 

* This pciwer of the master over the slave waa also possessed by the father over his family, 
f The Hon. B. F. Porter, of Alabama. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. lY 

the naniQ of the masters to whom they were reputed to belong, were submitted 
to the magistrates ; and very particular directions were given as to their marks 
which referred to a practice, common to the Romans, of impressing letters or 
marks, called stigmatce or subverbustce, with a hot iron. These formalities were 
evidenced by a public writing, or one affixed upon the place of their seclusion. 
A singular rescript of Antoninus Pius declared, that if a fugitive slave was de- 
livered up for combat in the public games, he was not, in being thus exposed to 
death, withdrawn from the power of his master, but should be delivered up to 
the master, either before or after he had encountered the wild beasts • for often 
says the rescript, slaves love rather to enter into combats of the arena than into 
the hands of their masters, and be punished for their robbei-ies and other crimes. 

"If fugitive slaves were not claimed by their masters, they were sold by the 
prefect of the night guard ; and, if recognized by the owner within three years, 
the price for which he was sold was surrendered. There seems to have been 
additional punishment, in case the fugitive slave passed himself as a freeman. A 
species of international provision also existed, by which it was made the duty of 
foreign nations, in case fugitive slaves were arrested within their limits, to con- 
demn them to the mines or some similar punishment. 

" In the sale of such slaves, the rule caveat emptor prevailed ; to evidence which 
they were sold publicly, bound hand and feet. 

"The State retained the power of making slaves of persons born free, in the 
case of soldiers deserting in times of war, of persons guilty of high capital 
offences, where such condition was imposed as part of the sentence, and of a free 
woman amorously affected towards a slave, &c. 

" There was one provision, with respect to slaves, among the Romans which 
might be profitably ado])ted, as a regulation, by individuals of our own society. 
It was, that slaves should not be permitted to be interrogated upon matters con- 
concerning their masters, but in cases of incest and conjuration. If this were 
strictly enforced, it is probable that more than half of the gossip and slanders 
agitating communities would be cut off. 

" By the law we are considering, the seller of a slave was held to o-uarantee 
not only his bodily, but also his moral soundness, and he was likewise bound to 
expose their deficiencies, if known. In truth, each slave carried to the public 
place for sale, had attached to his person a writing, upon which was set forth all 
his good, as well as bad qualities. The consequences resulting from the condition 
of enciente women were exceptions to this principle of guaranty. If a slave 
committed theft, on the instigation of his master, the slave was punished in pro- 
portion to the theft, or the damage resulting. This seems to be the better reading 
of the 105th law of the twelve tables. 

" It deserves consideration, while upon this subject, that, notwithstanding severe 
and unjust strictures are indulged in against slaveholding communities, very bene- 
ficial laws are found to exist among them in our day. For instance, it is held 
that the owner of a slave is under moral and legal obligation to supply his neces- 
sary wants ; nor can he avoid the obligation thus to provide for him by permitting 
the slave to be absent. So the hirer and owner are both liable for'the value of 
medical attendance furnished the slave — a decision reflecting very honourable 
distinction upon the humane court making. Gibson vs. Andrevvs, Ala., R. G6 
Hogan vs. Carr, 6 Ala., 471. So, if a hirer refuses to provide medical aid for the 
slave, and insists on his labouring when ])hysically unable, his owner may take 
him into possession, provide the necessary attention, and still hold the hirer liable 
for the sum stipulated. Ibid. The contract of hiring, covers also an ao-reement 
that the slave shall be honestly employed ; and, if a hirer incites a slave to any 
immoral or dishonest act, the master may rescind the contract of hiring. Rasco. 
5 Ala., R. d8. We are surprised, at every step into an investigation into the 
2 



18 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

subjects of the civil law, to find how much of the principles of that law has 
become, without the authorities knowing it, parts of our slave law. In ilhistra- 
tion of this position, it may be affirmed that the principle of the case of Rasco 
vs. Willis, cited as above, is the fruit of the civil law ; for, in book xlv. of the 
Pandects, tit. 3, § v., we find the following : 

" ' Male fidei possessori servi, ex nulla causa per servum acquiri potest.' 

" ' He who possesses a slave in bad faith, ought to acquire nothing by the 
slave.' 

" The right of holding slaves was defended by the Romans on two grounds : 
1st. That the custom of nations had made enemies, taken in war, slaves to ^he 
conquering power ; and 2d. That men who had no property to exchange for the 
means of subsistence, had authority to sell their liberty for the subsistence thus 
furnished by others. And, as was the condition of the parent, so should be the 
condition of the child." 

These few remarks are sufficient to point out the leading features of an institu- 
tion which flourished so universally in all the States of antiquity of which we 
have any authentic accounts. We cannot, however, leave this part of our subject 
without quoting an English work, which was designed to disparage the institution.* 
It is remarked that even the famous Roman, Cato, a man celebrated in all ages 
for his exact observance of the nicest rules of justice, in his conduct to his slaves 
seems entirely to have overlooked them. Notwithstanding his slaves had been 
very faithful and serviceable to him, when years came upon them, and they were 
no longer capable of hard labour, he made no scruple of turning them away, 
without the means of sustaining nature. True or not, as this assertion may be, 
how deliglited the writer would be to learn, that in the Southern States there is 
no such thing allowed as turning away a slave because he is disabled, or for any 
other reason ; and that, so far from turning tliem away when they become sick, 
old, or infirm, they are carefully nursed, and receive the best medical attendance 
the neighbourhood aft'ords. 

We do not attempt to deny that such cases may occur in the Northern States, 
among hireling slaves ; but they never do in the Southern States, among domes- 
tic slaves. The sick factory hireling, the ciippled or superannuated labourer, may 
suffer for want at the North ; but not so the wSouthern slave. At the North, the 
streets may be infested with beggars — imposters, taught from infancy to impose 
upon the credulity of the unwary Southern stranger; but at the South we have 
no impostor beggars, excepting, perhaps, a few who escape from the free soil of 
the North, to learn a nobler calling in a more congenial clime. It is a notorious 
fact, that no slave at the South is. a beggar ; and how many hundreds, and even 
thousands, have spurned the hypocritical offers of starving freedom presented 
them by the North, through the contemptible emissaries sent among us by their 
abolition associations. 

* Copley's History of Slavery. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 19 



CHAPTER III. 



" This world is not for aye ; nor 'tis not strange, 
That even our loves should with our fortunes change ; 
For 'tis a question left us yet to prove, 
Whether love leads fortune, or else fortune love." 

From the decline uf the Roman Empire to the middle of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, is a space in the history of Europe whicli demands but a passing glance. 
For the purposes of our present undertaking, it merely aftbrds a connecting link 
between ancient and modern times. During this period, slavery was universally 
practised, and possessed, as all institutions must, local peculiarities. 

In Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperors, agriculture was the chief 
occupation of the great majority of the slaves ; and here it may be remarked, as 
a fact worthy to be remembered, that agriculture and slaver ij, as national char- 
acteristic s, have in all ages been companions. 

When the Northern Barbarians, as history terms them, invaded the southern 
parts of Europe, they carried oft' numbers of slaves as booty, and disseminated a 
system, already existing among them, all over the continent, and the whole of 
Europe fell into a colapsed state of barbarity, ignorance and superstition. 

In Russia, Poland and Germany, slavery was perpetuated. In the former, it 
was a species of hereditary slavery or feudal vassalage. In the latter it origin- 
ated in captivity, birth of slave parents, or by voluntary contract.'* In the Ger- 
man States the system was in no respect burdensome ; slaves were not sold out 
of their own State or province. They all pursued agriculture, and we only occa- 
sionally find that they were called upon to serve in the more domestic offices. 

When the barbarians had reduced the Roman Empire to a state of subjection, 
land and slaves, as well as all other property was transferred into the hands of 
the conquerors ; and society was divided into two grand classes, those who de- 
fended, and those who supported the Commonwealth ; or, in other words, those 
who pursued the art? peace, and those who pursued the arts of war ; of the latter 
class all were free, of the former the great mass were slaves, the nature of whose 
bondage varied in different regions. This thorough revolution in the afflurs of 
the whole of Europe developed in the course of time, what is every where known 
as the Feudal system, a few vestiges of w'hich are still . to be found in some 
countries. 

This system, a more rigorous one than which never existed, seems to have been 
practised among the Northern hordes long before their invasion of the Roman 
Emj)ire. It is of higher antiquity than is generally supjwsed ;f the rights of the 
feuchil lords not having been originally acquired by usurpation, but derived from 
the })rimitive establishment of their ])eople. For when the Barbarians gradually 
extended their work of spoliation, they also gradually changed the practice of 
slavery from that of the old Roman to their own ; which, after the lapse of a few 
ages, was universally adopted and jiermanently established. By the tenth cen- 
tury this change was complete, and by the close of the twelfth it was in its greatest 
vigour. 

History assures us that the inhabitants of the vanquished States were some- 
times reduced to such extremes of distress that they voluntarily submitted to 
bondage as the price of life, and sought in slavery the only protection which 
could be obtained from the violence by which they were surrounded.;]^ 

* Copley Hist, of Slavery. 

\ See an able article on the subject in the Southern Literary Messenger, of 1838. 

X Allison's History of Europe. 



20 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, . 

That the hardships of the feudal system were perhaps greater tlian those of 
any which has prevailed since the world began, is owing, we think, chiefly to the 
spirit of the times during which it prevailed. For in those days the steel-clad. 
Baron, perched on his steepest hill, and shut up in his strong cjistle, surrounded 
by his faithful retainers; alike ready to defy his king or his vassal; was wholly 
indifferent to the ravages going on in the valleys under his grim old castle walls. 
He felt none of the sufferings of his distracted bondsmen, nor was he annoyed to 
see his villages wrapt in flames, and his helpless sari's carried away captives from 
beneath his frowning bastions by the exulting invader. This was but the wel- 
comed challenge, the resentment of which was destined to cover a whole genera- 
tion with imperishable fame on many a bloody field. 

The iron-hearted knight, cased in his armour from head to foot, and let loose 
at the head of his devoted followers like some raging lion ; dealing death and 
desolation, wielding his massive instrument of war, both to the right and left ; 
would break through the thickest ranks of the astonished peasants with nearly 
the same ease as he would mow down the ripening wheat of an adjacent field. 
He sought no end but glory, and knew no friend but famer As to his depend- 
ant slaves they were fortunate in having his protection, and for that boon, they 
must needs be content with such a life as never-ending feuds afford. There was, 
indeed, no law for the Aveak and poor, but to submit to the overpowering de- 
mands of stern necessity. They, in accordance with the times, had but little 
consideration and still less sympathy extended to them ; they were the devoted 
material with which the more fortunate nobles were enabled to enact those fear- 
ful dramas upon which later ages look back and are amazed. 

The serfs or slaves of Europe, during these ages, were held under the sternest 
discipline, and were the recipients of the poorest i-emuneration. The ravages of 
the Normans, and the cruelty of the Huns, excited but little compassion, while 
it was wreaked only on the slaves of the country.* Notwithstanding, even at 
the time of Charlemagne, only a few thousand freemen were to be found inter- 
spersed among as many millions of slaves ; yet, the slightest attempt to rebel 
against their stalwart masters was but the signal for the niost unsparing retribu- 
tion, and the severest regulations. Even the insurrections of the Jacquerie in 
France, of the peasants under Wat Tyler, in England, and of the Flemmings, 
under the brewer of Ghent, were repressed, says Allison, " with a cruelty of which 
history affords few examples." 

This system has, however, given place to another, and all Europe is more or 
less changed. The haughty Baron no longer rears up his castellated towers, that 
he may unfurl the banner of defiance, ojpression or rebellion. The grimvisaged 
retinue of the invading knight no longer dashes through the peaceful village, 
striking terror to the hearts of the affrighted serfs. 

The feudal system has passed away from the nations of Europe, to make place 
for the stranger one which now prevails among them. Money has now taken the 
place of arms ; duplicity the place of rank ; cunning the place of courage ; ava- 
rice the place of ambition ; vice the place of folly ; and mockery the place of 
superstition. This, however, like all the great changes of nature, was accom- 
plished by slow degrees and imperceptible additions. 

There is one truth in regard to the several changes which have taken place in 
the institution of slavery, which we should always remember, and it is this : In 
all the great changes wliich have taken place in any nation, in that relation of 
society called slavery, we find they have been brouglit about by the derelict con- 
duct of the masters, and have never been instigated by the will of the slaves. 
The decay of the feudal system is thus truly accounted for by a historian of no 

* Allison. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 21 

little celebrity.* He sa^e, "the power of the nobles, incapable of being subverted 
bv force, was undermined by opulence ; and the emancipation of the people, for 
which so man}^ thousands had perished, in vain, arose at length from the desires 
and follies of their oppressors. The Baron was formidable when his life was 
spent in arms, and he headed the feudal array which had grown up under the 
shadow of his castle walls ; when his years were wasted in the frivolities of a 
court, and his fortune squandered in the luxuries of a metropolis, he became con- 
temptible." 

During those turbulent ages it cannot be expected that much respect was paid 
to the requirements of civil law ; they were military ages, the strong right arm 
was the arm of justice, and the sword was the magistrate who settled all disputes. 
The physical world was in the ascendancy over the intellectual. There were, 
however some very equitable laws regulating slavery even in these unsettled 
times. ■* 

The children of slave mothers were slaves ; and in whatever way slaves were 
acquired, they could be sold at the pleasure of their owners ; the conditions of 
the transaction being regulated by different laws in different States. Slaves never 
gave evidence in the courts or tribunals. Kor some misdemeanors and crimes 
there were distinct laws for the two grand divisions of society. What would be 
a scrirainal offence in a slave, would not necessarily be such in a freeman. There 
are such laws among us, for instance, an " assault and battery," where the parties 
are both white persons, is punished by fine or imprisonment ; l)ut if the offender 
is a slave he is to suffer death, unless the assault is so triling as to render the 
punishment otrt'iously unjust. 

This law is particularly denounced by abolitionists, and is not favourably re- 
garded even by some slaveholders themselves. But we think the justice of it, 
and to a certain extent, the absolute necessity of it, can be demonstrated by the 
most ordinary reasoner. Among the great catalogue of crimes, there are two 
grand classes, one of which affects the rights and privileges of individuals only, 
whilst the other affects the peace of society, the well being of the State, and 
either directly or indirectly, the very existence of both. And what would be 
more certain to destroy the best regulated State, than such laws as would punish 
a slave for an offence in which rebellion is added to assault, in the same way, as 
a citizen would be punished for an aftence Avhich, though embodied in the same 
act, is simply an assault, and has no connection whatever with tli eidea of rebellion. 

The Roman yoke was withdrawn from Britain in the early part of the fifth 
century ; and about a hundred years after, the Saxon heptarchy was permanently 
established. During the existence of this government, which lasted about two 
hundred and fifty years, England was a slaveholding State, and the slave trade 
was extensively carried on, reaching frequently even as far as the Roman marts. 
Parents would not unfrequently sell their own offspring into pertual slavery in a 
foreign land. 

In the year 693, slaves were exempted fi'om labouring for their masters on Sundays. 
It has been estimated that during the Saxon ])eriod, there were upwards of a 
miUion of slaves in England, by whom the land was cultivated ; these were called 
national slaves, and could not lawfully be soM out of England. The children of 
these slaves inherited the condition of their parents. Among the domestic slaves 
of this period, were those who performed the menial duties of the household and 
farm, and all others, from the clown or jester down' to the humble swineherd. 
They were transferred or bequeathed at the pleasure of their masters ; but the 
agricultural, or national vassals were transferred or bequeathed only with the es- 
tates on which they lived and laboured. 

* Allison. 



22 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

CHAPTER IV. 

'• Oh, man 



Thy love is lust, thy friendship all a cheat. 

Thy smiles hypocricy, thy words deceit ! 

By naftire vile, ennobled but by name, 

Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame. 

Wk now come to that part of the history of this institution which leads to our 
own system, and will perhaps be more interesting to the reader. We allude to 
African slavery. 

As far as we have any information, it appears that within the limits of Africa, 
slavery has always been a universal practice ; and there is probably little exagge- 
ration ia saying, that with the exception of a few colonies and settlements, every 
man in Africa is either a slave or a master. And that negroes have been to a 
greater or less extent, imported from Africa into other countries, for centuries 
past, for the express purpose of being enslaved, is apparent from the history of 
every nation which has flourished in the South of Europe. We will, however 
confine our observations to the Atlantic trade chietly. 

Owing to the mildness of the climate, the fertility of the soil, and the barba- 
rism of the po[)ulation, that part of Africa from which our negroes were origin- 
ally brought, is a country in which labour is comparatively imknown. From the 
Prince down to the meanest slave, the wants of the African are few aud of easy 
gratification ; on this account there is little necessity for co-operaiion in labour. 
Each individual being in a great measure independent of the assistance of others, 
but like roving herds, each one depends alike on unassisted nature for support. 
In such a state of things it can easily be supposed that the disappearance or loss 
of a portion of a tribe, would, in time of peace, be productive of no essential in- 
convenience to the remainder ; neither would the acquisition of numbers be an 
essential gain. But on account of unbi-idled passions, and universal idleness, the 
invariable aceompanyments of a savage state, many serious feuds must necessarily 
arise between individuals of different tribes ; these feuds soon take the form of 
local quarrels, and out of these spring the most sanguinary wars between neigh- 
bouring jtrinces. In the battles which are fought, a number of prisoners are ta- 
ken by one, or both parties ; but these prisoners, which in times of peace would 
be of no advantage to the tribe, in times of war become positive Ijurdens. From 
motives of revenge they are not liberated, and from motives of self preservation, 
and with an eye to the incumbrance which prisoners always are, especially in sav- 
age warfare, it becomes necessary that they should be disposed of. 

Precisely in accordance with these truths, we find it was formerly the universal 
practice to sacrifice these victims to their heathen gods ; and not until the idola- 
trous victors could be induced to forego the imaginary approval of their gods for 
the sake of trinkets and European novelties were the captives rescued from 
death, to be bought into slavery in some foreign land. It has now become the 
fashion, however, among philanthropists, to think that if the matter were left to 
captive to decide, he would infinitely prefer death to slavery ; this fashionable 
opinion may be correct, but we can only say, that so far as the ordinary principles 
of untutored nature is concerned, it is highly probable that as these prisoners by 
being transported, only change savage for civilized masters, they would rather 
prefer this change to the dubious allurements of death. And even if after this 
change is effected they still have a longing after death, it is not probable any 
moral or religious compunctions would prevent their resorting to it. 

Thei-e is a vast difference between the several tribes of the African race, both 
in point of civilization and mental ondowments. The most superior are the Jo- 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 23 

lofs, and those of Guber and Hausa, who are said to have made some advances 
towards civilization when first discovered by the Portuguese. The Ashantees, a 
powerful tribe in the interior of the North of Africa, were the chief people to 
supply the Spaniards and Portuguese with slaves (captives taken in war,) when 
the trade became one of notoriety. The district along the South-western coast of 
Africa, commonly called lower Guinea, has always been a great slave mart. The 
negroes brought from this region, usually known as Congos, have always been 
considered the most valuably, on account of their being susceptible of some slight 
education in mechanical and otli«r arts. The Eboes and MonguUas, commonly 
called among themselves GuUas, are inferior to the Congos on account of their 
unconquerable laziness, and the impossibility of teaching them any higher art 
than that of breaking the sod Avith a hoe ; they are, however, susceptible of more 
endurance in a hot climate than any other branch of the human race. There are 
some other tribes who have never been disturbed by the Christians, for purposes 
of trade, because of their supreme barbarity and utter worthlessness. 

In the fifteenth century there arose an extraordinary spirit of enterprize, and 
love of adventure on the sea. Navigation had become a science, and among other 
nations, the Portuguese the most expert in the management of maratime affairs ; 
to this nation we are indebted for the African slave-trade. 

It is said to have originated in the following way. In the year 1440, while 
the Portuguese were exploring the coast of Africa, a captain, named Anthony 
Gonzales, seized some Moors near Cape Bajador, on tlie Western coast, a little to 
the South of Barbary, and just at the entrance of the great desert. Two years 
afterwards their celebrated Prince, Henry, commanded Gonzales to carry his 
prisoners back to Africa. He did so, and landing them at Rio del Oro, a little 
farther South, received from the Moors in exchange, a quantity of gold dust, and 
ten negroes, with which cargo he returned to Lisbon. These negroes had per- 
haps been taken captives in war by the Moors, who, according to the usages of 
barbarous nations, felt themselves at liberty to dispose of their captives at the 
best market, or in exchange for their own countrymen. But the speculation 
proving profitable to Gonzales, others of the same nation soon embarked in it, 
and the Moors found many purchasers for their captives. 

Towards the close of the same century, the Spaniards discovered and took pos- 
session of the West India Islands, and having, in their inordinate tliirst for gold, 
compelled the wretched natives to labour in the mines of Hispaniola, till their 
race was nearly exterminated, and the sources of their wealth in consequence, 
closed, a vehement desire to pursue their lucrative, though laborious projects, in- 
spired the thought of procuring slaves from Africa. Accordingly, about the 
year 1503, a few slaves were sent by the Portuguese to the Spanish colonies. 
In 1511, Ferdinand the fifth of Spain, allowed a larger importation of them. They 
were, however, found unfit for the labour which they were destined ; and as num- 
bers of gold mines then began to be wrought in Mexico and Peru, those of His- 
paniola were the less regarded. The labour of the slaves was therefore turned to 
agricultural pursuits. 

This trade was encouraged by Charles the fifth, the successor of Ferdinand. 
He granted a ])atent for the annual importation of 4000 negroes into the West 
India Islands. 

In the French colonies, during the reign of Louis the thirteenth, African slavery 
•was introduced on a large and extensive scale. 

The importation of negroes into the British American colonies commenced du- 
ring the reign of Queen Elizabeth, under the immediate supervision of Sir John 
Hawkins. Durino- the succeeding reigns of James 1st, Charles 1st and 2d, the 
slave trade in theTBritish colonies steadily and rapidly increased ; and Great 



24 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

Britain far outstripped any other nation in the world, in the extent to which 
she carried the trade. 

In the year 1793, Great Britain imported more than half the number of 
slaves imported by all the European pov/ers put together. From the year 
1700 to 1786,* the number of slaves imported by Biitish subjects into the 
Island of Jamaica alone, was six hundred and ten thousand ; or about seven 
thousand one hundred every year. In the year llll, fort// seven thousand one 
hundred and forty-six negroes were imported into the British colonies, in British 
ships alone. 

Is it not difficult to believe that Great Britain, who so short a time ago, was the 
most extensive and cruel slave-trader in the world, is tlie same Great Britain 
who is now the greatest suppresser of that very trade ? The entire number of 
negroes said to have been enslaved, (that is transported and landed in the 
British colonies, for those who died on the voyage across the Atlantic are not 
included) by Great Britain is over three millions. 

For the great majority of negroes now in the United States, English tra- 
ders are to be thanked. Let us, therefore, before we utter our thanks, exam- 
ine our affairs and see to what extent these thanks are due. 

The census of 1790 affords us the earliest information as to the number of 
negroes in the country at the close of the revolution ; and though there will 
be error, yet the error will not be very material, if we adopt that census as in- 
dicating the true number in the States at the close of the war. 

The population of the free States was then as follows: Whites, 1,852,116. 
Free coloured, 29,435. Slaves, 49,257. 

The population of the slaveholding States was: Whites, 1,201,351. Free 
coloured and Indians, 28,265. Slaves, 646,183. 

In Vermont there "were 85,268 whites, 255 free coloured, and 16 slaves. 

In New-Hampshire there were 141,197 whites, 630 free coloured, and 158 
slaves. 

In Massachusetts the negro trade had been prohibited in 1778, and there 
was not a slave (that is a negro bondman) in the State. There were 373,324 
whites, and 5,463 free negroes. In this, as in other New-England States, there 
was comparatively little necessity, and less profit, for the peculiar labour to 
which the African disposition is adapted, viz : agriculture on a large scale ; 
for the negro is dissatisfied on a farm, his predilection is decidedly for the large 
plantation, on which reside fifty or a hundred of his associates; he there has 
every facility for that merry and blithsome intercourse, the love of which is a 
striking characteristic of the race ; whereas, the lonesome life he would lead 
on a small New-England farm would be distn^ssing to him. The climate of 
these States is against the health and comfort of the negro ; his native home 
is under a tropical sun, and notwithstanding he can endure, without serious in- 
convenience, the extreme degree of heat incident to such a climate as Africa's, 
he is utterly averse to the frigid l^lasts of winter. The^e not being any means 
by which money could be made in these States, through the medium of slave 
labour within their- limits, is the chief cause of its never having been resorted 
to on a larger scale. 

In Rhode Island the slave-trade was always extensively carried on until 
prohibited by law. The rum distilled in the West Indies was carried to Af- 
rica to purchase negroes, and the negroes purchased in Africa were carried to 
the West Indies to purchase rum ; this profitable trade was continued by those 
interested in it, to the latest possible period.* It was the source of wealth to 

* Copley's Hist. Slavery. Winterbotliam's States of America. 

* Winterbotham, vol. 2d, p. 233 — 239. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 25 

many of the people of New Port. The population of this State was 64,470 
whites, 3^407 free negroes, and 948 slaves. 

In Connecticut there were 232,374 whites, 2,810 free negroes, and 2,764 
slaves. 

In iWw-J^orA: there were 314,142 whites, 4,654 free negroes, and 21,324 
slaves. 

In New- Jersey there were 170,954 whites, 1,762 free negroes, and 11,423 
slaves. For about six or eight years previous to 1790, there had been a re- 
markable increase in the number of slaves, and an equally remarkable decrease 
in the number of free negroes. But for a space of over forty-five years, it is 
to be observed that the increase of the black population (including both slave 
and free) was at the same rate as that of the white population. At this time 
the principal pursuit of the people of New-Jersey was agriculture, and that 
on a small scale ; a kind of farming not calculated to enhance slave labour, 
though perhaps able to support it. And it is said by a writer, who travelled 
all over North America and the West Indies, when preparing his history ;j- 
that agriculture (in this State) had not been improved to that degree, which, 
from long experience, we might rationally expect, and which the fertility ot 
the soil, in many places, certainly encouraged. Evincing either a want of 
enterprize on the part of proprietors, or a fault in the system of labour ; the 
latter cause is perhaps that which may most reasonably be assigned, for no 
one can impute the energy and enteiprize of the people of New-Jersey. This 
is a good instance of the unprofitableness and misapplication of slave labour 
in the Northern States. 

In Petmsylvania there were 424,079 whites, 6,557 free negroes, and 3,703 
slaves. 

In Delmvare, which is more assimilated in climate and natural resources with 
Maryland and Virginia than any other State, lying as it does, in the same lati- 
tude, and possessing similar natural features', we find a greater proportion of 
slaves than in any State North of it. There were 46,308 whites, 3,899 free 
negroes, and 8,887 slaves. This is the last of the free States which then held 
slaves. 

Since that census was taken, a'll the 45,37 f slaves held in these States have 
disappeared, and the current which swept them away, has borne along with it 
we cannot tell how man}^ times that number from the Southern States, through 
the agency of those good abolition gentlemen, who never fail to let " charit}^, 
in golden links of love, connect them with the brotherhood of man ;" the es- 
sence of which golden links of love is the golden rule, " rob Peter, to pay Paul," 
or rob white to pay black. In all these States the white population has regu- 
larly and rapidly increased ; but the negroes, where are they ? Some have 
been sent to their father land, Liberia, to set up a model republic, and to en- 
lighten and amend the civil code of Ethiopia. Some have gone the way of 
all flesh, through sheer want of that same thing, wherewith they might have 
been nourished and kept alive, but for the want of it. Some have emigrated 
Westward, and the glory of their enlightened minds have shed lustre on the 
name of Ohio. Some choice spirits among them are the pride and boast of 
divers Northern penitentiaries and alms-houses. And some remain, the sport- 
ive imps of fun and frolic, in the large cities of the North ; and have their an- 
nual and semi-annual exhibitions, for the benefit of their gaping brethren of a 
paler hue ; of the spontaneous effervescence of the spirit of liberty fresh from 
their American bosoms. And for the rest, they are among the most injlticn- 
tial and respectable citizens of the Northern community, 

\ Winterbotliam. 



26 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

lu Maryland there were 208,649 whites, 8,043 free negroes and Indians, and 
103,036 slaves. 

In Virginia there were 442,117 whites, 12,866 free negroes and Indians, and 
292,627 slaves. It must be remarked here, that the increase of the slave pQpu- 
lation of Virginia, for fourteen years preceding this census, was less than it had 
been for a century before ; owing to the fact, that about 30,000 slaves died of the 
small-pox or camp-fever, caught from the British army ; or were inveigled oflf, 
while Lord Cornwallis was roving over the State. 

In Kentucky, then in its infancy, there were 61,133 whites, 114 free negroes, 
and 12,430 slaves. 

In North- Carolina, there were 288,205 whites, 4,975 free negroes and Indians, 
and 100,571 slaves. 

In Tennessee, there were 5,813 whites, and 1,161 slaves. 

In South- Carolina, there were comparatively more slaves than in any other 
State; the population being 140,278 whites, and 107,094 slaves. A great loss 
in slave property was incurred by this State during the revolutionary war, and 
was, comparatively speaking, about three times as great as that met with by Vir- 
ginia. During the three years the IJritish were in possession of Charleston, they 
stole away and sold in the West Indies, no less than 25, OHO negroes. 

In Geoiyia, there were 55,156 whites and 29,264 slaves. The circumstances 
connected with slavery in the eaily settlement of this State, present a striking 
contrast with those of Massachusetts and other New-England States ; in these 
latter, slavery was originally introduced and considerably practised, but as the 
population increased, hired labour took the place of slave labour. In Gt?orgia, 
exactly the reverse was the case. The original " board of Trustees for the set- 
tling and establishing the colony of Georgia," consisting of twenty-one opulent 
and humane gentlenren in England, prohibited the use of negroes in the colony, 
and the importation of rum.* By this one ruthless stroke of philanthropy, the 
settlers of Georgia were deprived the two-fold blessing enjoyed by tlieir more 
fortunate neighbours of Rhode Island ; they could accumulate wealth by trading in 
Africans and rum, but Georgia was designed for a free State, and Africans were not 
to be used, neither rum. This was about the year 1732. The plan was a theo- 
retical one, and was, perhaps, the worst that could have been adopted ; it was 
certainly productive of the most pernicious consequences to the prosperity of the 
colony. The paramount object of the trustees being to raise silk and win'% they 
deemed it inexpedient to introduce slave labour. And in addition to this, the 
colony being, at this early period, a kind of barriea* between Carolina, on the one 
side, and the Spanii-h settlement at St^. Augustine, on the other, the trustees fell 
into the very general, though equally erroneous belief, that negroes would rather 
weaken, than strengthen, its defensive powers. These were the chief reasons 
why the settlers were prohibited from employing slaves ; but the absurd restric- 
tion had a visible eti'ect. It was found impracticable in such a climate, and with- 
out African labour, for the colony to flourish ; the enterprise, therefore, proved a 
faihire. In a country so rich, with a climate so favourable, and a soil so produc- 
tive as that of Georgia, rhe colonists, nevertheless, gradually disappeared, and 
effectually deserted the enterprise ; because they were convinced they could never 
succeed under such impolitic restrictions. 

The trustees finding that the colony was languishing under their trans-atlantic 
care, resigned their charter, in the year 1752, to the King of England, and the 
deserted colony became a royal government. History informs us that, at this 
time, " the vestiges of cultivation were scarcely perceptible in the forests, and in 
England all commerce with the colony was neglected." But, immediately on tliQ 

*See Winterbotham's States of America. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 27 

government being changed, tlie people became possessed of the same privileges 
which their neighbours enjoyed ; prominent among which, was the privilege of 
cultivating their rich lands, by the only profitable Tneans, which is no other than 
slave labour. Several years elapsed, however, before the value of the lands 
became generally appreciated. And about the year 1760 a sprit of enterprise 
sprung up, which has ever since been a characteristic of this State. And it 
should be particularly observed, that no portion of the population, under the new 
laws, increased so rapidly, and no system of labour became so generally dissemi- 
nated, as that of the African slave. 

The experiment has, therefore, we think, been farily tried, both North and 
South have had ample opportunities to discover the interest and policy of their 
respective sections. All the New-England States have tried slave labour, but it 
was not found profitable and was abandoned. In the South, the State of Georgia 
was, for a period of twenty years, not only nfrce, but decidedly a ivhite colony. 
White labour was here found to be incompatible with the climate ; slave labour 
was introduced ; and in the short space of thirty years, nearly thirty thousand 
slaves were actively employed in the pursuits of agriculture. And, at the present 
day, slaveholding Georgia will favourably compare with any State in the Union. 

Now, " facts and dates are stubborn things," and the facts cited with regard to 
the expulsion in one quarter, and the introduction in another, of slave labor, are 
two stubborn facts. They are the legitimate effects of the same remote, but stub- 
born cause, necessity. And all the abolition societies, colonization societies, and 
Wilmot Provisos in Christendom, can never change those facts. The Congress 
of the United States may violate the constitution, and, in its corrupt and faithless 
career, it may abolish lav!, right and justice, but it can never abolisli these facts ; 
for, as long as the climate, soil, and all the physical causes at the South remain 
unchanged, just so long must that soil, if cultivated at all, "be cultivated by the 
negro slave. And precisely the reverse proposition is applicable to the North ; 
all sylogistic ravings and abolition pulpit-exhortations to the contrary, notwith- 
standing. 

We have now finished our brief historical sketch of slavery. We have glanced 
at a few of the leading features of the institution, and have become sufficiently 
acquainted with it to learn that iP is a momentous subject, and one that involves 
a profound inquiry. It may be viewed in a moral and in a religious, a political, 
economical, and a comparative view ; also, in a States rights point of view. Each 
of these views of the institution we will briefly lay before the reader, and then 
call to mind some of the chief combinations of causes which have effected its 
abohtion in some countries, and tend to effect it in others. 



CHAPTER V. 

" What opposite discoveries we have seen I 
[Signs of true genius and of empty pockets,] 
One makes new noses, one a guillotine, 
One breaks youi' bones, one sets them in their sockets." 

This chapter will be devoted to the " op])osite discoveries we have seen." It 
will contain some of the " signs of true genius," which jioint out the English and 
Ameiican philanthropists of late days, as the lucky people, v.ho are, of all others, 
most likelv to produce ilxa philosopher'' s stone. 



^ 



28 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

The English people are perhaps the most astonishing race of biped animals in- 
habiting the known world ; excepting onl}^ perhaps, that tribe of men, each of 
whom, is said by a French explorer, to be provided %vith a tail, and which may 
be found in some of the unknown parts of Africa. They are, with this obvious 
exception, probably the most astonishing bipeds in nature. They do such queer 
tricks, they have such queer whims, and are with all such queer fellows, that it 
makes us feel quite queer to talk about them. But the queerest thing these 
queer people ever did, remains to be told, and it can be told in very brief terms. 
Once upon a time, as I've been told, 

" The King of France with 3,000 men, 
Marched up the hill and then marched down again." 

This was a very funny thing, and every body laughed ; it was so droll iu the 
king, and so like Jmn too. But after all, what the King of France did was no 
thing to what the people of England did ! Why, they with 3,000,000 men!! 
marched doivn the hill, and then marched ^ip again. 

It has already been said, that the people of England have, from first to last, 
enslaved 3,000,000 Africans. The magnanimous generosity of their enlightened 
minds induced them to sell these three millions of slaves for the highest price 
they could obtain ; the higher the price the slave could bring, of course the bet- 
ter would be the condition of the slave ; and though the seller's purse would be 
all the heavier for it, yet such a consideration was quite overlooked. No English- 
man, in the days of the slave trade, or at the present time either, would, for a 
moment, consider, the value of a few guineas, when he had an African to sell. 
After having pocketed the rich proceeds of this immense traffic, the great En- 
glishman's good heart sickened ; and having violently precipitated himself first 
half way down the hill, then slowly dragging himself down the other half, he 
stopped to take breath, and then, when it was alas too late, it in a very forcible 
manner appeared to him that he had done wrong in going down so far ; so he 
roused himself, and, feeling all those delicate compunctions of conscience so pecu- 
liar to himself, he took up his line of march up hill again. Through the purest 
motives of Christian humility and charity the English people brought down upon 
their nation the admiring eyes of all the world, by cheerfully emancipating the 
helpless and untutored slaves of their defenceless colonies. 

The old system only gave way for a new kind of slavery, which was still more 
congenial with English humanity. As might be expected in all great changes of 
society, where the aggrandizement of a small portion only is consulted, this 
change was of no benefit to the great mass of people concerned; it advanced 
neither master nor slave. The old slaveholder, now politely called the employer, 
not being bound, a.s formerly, to support and keep in health those in his service, 
but being left with the power of procuring labor at the lowest possible rate, that 
of barely keeping soul and body togetha;, became unmindful of all other ||onsi- 
derations, save only that of gain. This new system of slavery is peculiarly En- 
glish, but it is, to a certain extent, becoming Americanized. The principal distin- 
guishing features are these: in the new system, the slave is mocked by being 
called a freeman ; he lives in rags and misery, filth, drunkenness and vice. In 
the old system, the slave was exempt from the absurd mockery of the new ; he 
Avas well clad, lived in comfort, sobriety, and comparative morality. In the new, 
he shares his squalid hut with cattle, swine and poultry, or his damp and noisome 
cellar with innumerable rats. In the old, even in the British West Indies,* he 
shared his comfortable cot with his family, and partook his evening meal in con- 
tentment and happiness ; and always knew that let what would come, lie, at least, 

* Winterbotham. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 29 

would be provided for on the morrow. In the new and improved system, the 
child of seven or eight years is put to hard labour ; and once located, poverty 
(the overruling genius of the system) condemns him, for the remainder of his 
life, to the most burdensome state of slavery ; that is, the slave of destitution, 
ignorance and disease ; and what is more cruel than all, the slave of an avaricious, 
disinterested master, who cares little for his welfare, and as little for his life. In 
the old system, the slave-born child knew nothing of labour, till he became suf- 
ficiently old to endure it ; the fourteenth year being the usual age at which one 
was set to work. He was not the victim of poverty, but rather the recipient of 
plenty ; not the Wind dupe of ignorance, but rather in the enjoyment of useful 
instruction ; not the shattered wreck of disease, but rather, as is proverbially the 
case, one of the most robust, healthy, long-lived of the human race ; not the 
hireling of a master to whom his life and health was of no consideration, because 
it was of no value, but the slave of an interested master, who was compelled bj 
law, policy and common interest to promote the health and long preservation of 
his property. 

A thousand other comparisons might be drawn, to show what an improvement 
the new system is, and how far superior it is, in every respect, to the old. 

The people of England are all philanthropists ; it would appear they do every 
thing for the good of mankind in general. They amuse themselves at the ex- 
pense of other people, and in spite of fate, they amuse other people at their own 
expense. Among the first class of amusenients, is a kind intimately connected 
with our present undertaking ; and it will, probably, amuse the reader to see tj:ie 
gross absurdities in which these queer bipeds have forages indulged. We allude 
to the African slave trade, as conducted by them, and the horrid abuses of the 
laws of slavery as practised by them. And among the second class of amuse- 
ments, is the grand farce which they so comically performed, when they abohshed 
slavery in the West Indies with one hand, whilst with the other they were mak- 
ing slaves in the East. Truly of them it may be said, the right hand knows not 
what the left is doing. 

We cannot be otherwise than astonished, when the Englishman tells us seri- 
ously that millions were sold by their own countrymen, at a profit of from three to 
four hundred per cent., not for the sake of gain, but for the civilization of the 
slave. We are told that the natives of America being unable to endure the 
hardships of labour to which they were forced by the white race, and to which 
they were entirely unaccustomed, became, in a short time, almost extinct; and 
their places in the gold mines, and in the fields, were filled by imported Africans. 
Now, the part the English people took in this business, was not for the sake of the 
profits, it was exclusively 'the offspring of that noble liberality peculiar to the 
Eno-lish breast. It was all done for the sake of the slave, and the merchants or 
traders pocketed the profits, merely because 'tis somewhere said, " riches are not 
to be despised." But virtue is its own reward, and the Englishman has the con- 
solation of knowing, that his nation has far outstripped all others in the African 
slave trade. This is suflicient compensation, and all that can be desired ; for, as 
to that sordid ore, that dross, that filthy lucre, that gold which was the price of 
the slave, it could not circulate in all England ; the very idea would offend the 
English breast ; and it may be very well doubted, whether there is a single pound 
of such capital to be found within the British realm. 

The grand results of British abolition, will be recorded in their proper place. 
For the present, it is enough for us to know how the Hawkins' have become 
Clarksons ; how the English thief has become the English benefactor, by first pil- 
fering, then generously restoring what he has no further economical use for ; how 
England has made millions of slaves, and how England has made as many free- 
men • and how all was done for the benefit of the human race generally, and the 



30 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

African race in particular ; how England colonized America, and how she trusted 
to the profits of slave labor, for the support of her colonies, and for a lai-ge con- 
tribution to her own revenue ; liow she waxed too greedy, and wished to exact 
more than her share of the said proiits; how the colonies had a consultation, and 
how they determined to rid tliemseh'es of such a domineering and bullying, 
thouo-li always great and good connection ; liow the two parties did lay on the 
hard knocks in the tug of war ; and how the colonies were victorious, and became 
a distinct government ; and how the citizens of the new government determined 
to continue in the same ])ursuits, and to perpetuate the same institutions, among 
which was slavery, which were taught them by good old England ; how poor old 
EnfJ-land, after being quite crippled in the wars, took a while to refresh herself; 
and how when she put her hands in her pockets, she missed so much of that filthy 
lucre, the produce of slave labour ; and how she raved and tossed about for a 
■while and finally swore she would liberate her slaves, because it was really a pity 
to keel) the poor creatures in service ; how she cajoled herself about the immense 
o-enerosity of her nature, and how she set herself up as a model for all Christian 
nations ■ how she waxed envious of the new republic, which retained its slaves 
and iDrospered ; and how she would give any thing to get her slaves back ?gain, 
even if they came from. Calcutta^ but which alas she could not do; so she sud- 
denh'" dries up her tears, and seeks to be anmsed by abusing America ; for doing 
what i The same thing she had industriously taught America to do. 

Nothino- is more didightful to the great mass of English cockneys, than to col- 
let too"ether at Exeter hall, or some other place, and rehearse the " tempest" in 
the tea-pot. To talk loud, and look so\ii', to bully and bluster about slave labour 
in America, forgetting all the while how totally unaware the unconscious Ameri- 
cans are of all tlie grave proceedings conducted so bravely across the sea. They 
abuse and falsify the Americans on account of slavery, notwiili: ^-niding the pro- 
duce of slave labour enriches thousands of their countrymen, and is perhaps the 
chie^ source of their own support. The blustei'ing cockneys however forget this 
fact, the system of slavery practical among us, is a legacy from England. »She 
enslaved the African, she introduced him among us, and now cannot sufficiently 
abuse us, because we retain what she taught us to possess. 

It has been suggested in move than one quarter, that the capital now circula- 
ting in Eno-land, and which was oi'iginally. accumulated from the slave trade, 
could, if applied to that purpose, purchase all tlie slaves in America. And this 
is no random remark, it is the result of calculation. Almost every negro who 
was ever brought from Africa to this country, was so transported by English or 
Northern slave-traders, and all we say with regard to Englishmen, applies also to 
the Yankees. The great mass, however, was the subject of British trade. We 
will, therefore, state Ae i)roposition. Where a slave was worth, on an average, 
$200, when the trade was conducted by the English people, he is now worth 
$300. On the other hand, the natural increase of available slave population is 
not more than about two per cent per annum ; whereas money, the money which 
was originally paid Ibr the slaves, is at the lowest calculation, always worth thr-^.e 
per cent. Any increase in the value of slaves, is therefore fully counterbalanced 
by the greater natural increase belonging to money. And it is a matter from 
whicli all possible doubt is removed, that if the capital derived from the slave 
trade, could be collected and appropriated as above mentioned, there would not 
only be a sufficiency for the purpose, but there would be an immense surplus 
tvhich could be judiciously laid out in donations to the poor of Ireland. 

Now as it is the earnest desire of all true Englishmen to promote the libera- 
tion of every African slave, why is not this capital appropriated for the purpose ? 
It cannot be urged as a reason, that it would enrich the slave-holder to purchase 
his slave, for the very capital in question came originally from the purse of the 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 3J 

slave-holder; the slave he now owns is but the equivalent of the money he has 
put in the Englishman's pocket. It cannot be given as a reason, that it would 
impoverish the Englishman ; such would involve a contradiction, and the conclu- 
sion would be an absurdity. We all know, and the Englishman tells us he is 
penitent, and grieves at what he has done ; his heart's desire is to liberate the 
poor African he has enslaved ; then surely he would be rejoiced to retrace his 
steps and undo what he has done. The last thing he did for the Afncan was to 
sell him and pocket the proceeds, the tirst he should now do, would be to buy the 
African and disgoi'ge the proceeds which have so long been accumulatino- in his 
pocket; then having returned the money, and received the negro back into his 
possession, he could dispose of him as becomes a sinner who has repented of his 
sins. Who can doubt, that if our slaves could but be transferred back to the 
English people from whom we got them, they would be immediately libeiated 
sans recompense. Time will no doubt prove that our estimate of English philan- 
thropy is correct, and we would sincerely advise owners of slaves who desire to 
sell their property, not to be precipitate, but wait a short time till all this l^ritish 
competition is brought into the market. 

What has been said of England, is equally true of the non-slave-holdino- States 
of America. The people of New-England particularly resemble those °of Old 
England, they must always have a hobby to ride ; for without such a thing they 
could not live. The King of France marched up the hill and then marched down 
the English hosts marched down the hill and then marched \ip, but the Yankee 
people compromise the matter, and they march round and round the hill • beino- 
mounted on their hobby, they never tire. 

The people of New-England must always have some class or sect of people at 
whom they can aim their squibs, and over whom they can exult and bully. When 
they were driven by persecution fromthi^ir European homes to the uns-ttled wilds 
of America, they had scarcely located themselves securely in their, new homes 
before they fell into the same course of persecution, fi'om which they had so re- 
cently fled. And calling themselves free, solemnly ordained in their public as- 
sembles, that no person who was not a member of some church within their 
limits, should be entitled to the privilege of a freeman.'" Thus New-Eno-land, a 
worthy copy of the original at that time, in some matters at least, was not only 
the curtailer of liberty within its limits, but was the religious oppressor. 

Whilst Old England was manufacturing slaves by theft and corruption, New- 
England was eliminating freemen by the enactment of laws based on the ground 
of religious superiority. About twenty-tive years after this pious and charitable 
law wa^ enacted, the whole force of it seems to have fallen upon the society of 
friends, oi«Quakers. Why they should have been the particular objects of per- 
secution, does not appear ; but, perhaps, they proved to be the tamest hobby, 
and for that reason could be ridden with whij) and spur, without dano-er eithg- to 
the life, or limb of the rider. Be that ho^vever, as it may, it is certain the united 
colonies of New-England, i)etitioned some of the neighbouring colonies to co-ope- 
rate with them "in taking effectual methods to suppress the Quakers, and pre- 
vent their doctrines being propagated in the country." This, of course, was all 
right ; but it would be very wrong for any Southern slave holding State, or any 
number of them, to take ettectual methods to sui)press the abolitionists^ and pre- 
vent ^/i^'fr doctrines being propagated in the country. This. would immediately 
be styled an offensive and unlawful proceeding; and the poor Southern State 
which was so reckless as to commit the error, would be chastised by the whole 
christian conmiunity of the North, and perhaps any citizen of such a State, who 
was so unfortunate as to be within the limits of a Northern State, would be vio- 

* See Winterbotham's States of America. 



32 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

lently seized upon and retained as a hostage, a prisoner of war, a living witness 
of the valorous resentment of the North.* 

The people of New-England and the other Northern States require a hobby, 
but it must be one that grows, and in its growth supphes new sources of amuse- 
ment. It must be one whose wounds and bruises heal rapidly ; for it becomes 
tiresome to them to ride, unless they can always find a fresh spot upon which to 
lay the lash. These people were perhaps jiever better accommodated than when 
they mounted the South sixty years ago. In the South, they found their very 
beau ideal of a hobby ; it was strong, it was growing, it was gentle and easily 
broken to the harness ; it was fat, happy and content, and wholly indifferent to 
the burden of the North. It was like an unsuspecting lazy horse, and bore the 
pale-faced rider patiently enough through many a boggy spot over which the ri- 
der never could have passed without him. Of late, however, the equestrian has 
grown prodigious, his ease, comfort and high keeping, have brought on dropsical 
symptoms ; his weight has become enormous, and his huge legs encompass the 
tired animal from Maine to California. The hobby sometimes seems to be waking 
up, then relapses to its torpor. Mr. Wilmot's thorny switch awakes it for a while, 
but Mr. Clay's composing drugs restore its sleep again. The noisy clatter of con- 
tending jockies arouse it from a dream, but the croaking chorus of some degra- 
ding compromiser receives it back to sleep. At one time the infatuated hobby 
did seem to have an eye partly opened to the day, there was some evidence that 
it felt the mighty wt;ight and overgrown pressure of its gormandizing rider. We 
thought we heard its impatient stamping, and its pawing up the earth ; there 
was something like the white foam of its anger rising from the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, and the snuffing of his nostrils was heard at Nashville. But the rider 
still rides on, and the hobby hobbles on. 



CHAPTER VI. 

« Cal— Cal— Cal Caliban, 

Has a new master — get a new man." 

Therk is a manifest inequality in the conditions of mankind, and this inequa- 
lity is evidently not artificial, but the natural, the necessary state of man. The first 
point then to be decided, is the extent to which this necessary inequality extends. 
It has frequently been the error of persons who attempt to discover sin and im- 
moi'tality in slavery ; unwittingly to take men in a savage condition to be in the 
state for which nature intended them; or what is much the same, to assume the 
savage condition of man as a standard, and from it to remodel the civilized por- 
tion of the human race ; and because the roving savage, whose means of subsist- 
ance are derived chiefly from fishing and hunting, has neither inducement nor 
means to encumber himself with a retinue of slaves ; they leap to the conclusion 
that slavery must be an artificial state, and could never have been that in which 
the God of nature intended man to be placed. 

Others fall into the opposite error, and being disgusted at the barbarities of a 

* During the summer of 1849, upon its becoming kno\\Ti in the city of New- York that an 
abolitionist, named Barrett, had been lodged in jail in South-Carolina, for circulating incen- 
diary papers in the State, it was pwposed among the people, and announced in one of the 
papers of that city, that a distinguished citizen of South-Carolina, there on a visit, should be • 
forcibly retained as a hostage. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 33 

savage conditioD, present to their minds a most pleasing contrast, by summing up 
all the civil and moral advantanges of a civilized state, entirely forgetting to enu- 
merate a single vice, or disadvantage belonging to this state of society. But it 
appears to us, that in order to discover the real essence of man's nature, and to 
form a correct idea of the tiecessary extent of that inequality belonging to his ^ 
race, we should proceed in the same way we would, for the same purpose, with 
regard to any other race of animals, or class of created beings, viz : examine his 
history for centuries back, and if practicable, from his very origin. Discover what 
have been the chief characteristics of the race, and having once become acquainted 
with these, we may rely on their continuing unchanged. If we find that the 
predilections, pursuits, faculties and propensities of man, have always tended to 
produce the same results ; we have no reason to suppose that this tendency will 
ever be changed. If we find that the human family has always been divided 
into classes, whose privileges and enjoyments have been unequal at all times, we 
conceive of no reason why this inequality should cease to exist, and indeed we 
know of no possible means by which it could be obviated. 

If the laws of nature remain unchanged, we have no right to suppose that this 
one law of inequality of condition can ever change ; but it avouUI be difficult to "^ 
conceive of a community of men, wherein there was not an inequality of condi- 
tion ; in feet, history affords no instance of the kind. 

Was not the mind of Newton entitled to vastly more consideration, in the in- 
tellectual world, than that of his cook or butcher ? Would not the accomplished, 
well trained and accoutred knight have commanded more consideration, in the 
physical world, than his awkward and untutored groom ? In short, is not genius 
one condition and idiocy another ? The huge athletic man one condition, and 
the miserable dwarf another ? Are not amazing inequalities necessarily found, 
both in the intellectual and physical structure of man ? Can it then be said in 
view of these unalterable and stubborn fiicts, that vast inequalities do not neces- 
sarily exist in the several relations and conditions of man ? And are not these 
, inequalities manifestly the sacred tvill of God ? The human family is then natu- 
rally and necessarily subjected to inequalities of condition. 

As to the African, there can be no doubt that he will long continue to be en- 
slaved by the white man ; for it is absolutely certain, that long before European 
ships began to explore the coast of Africa, negroes were carried away by Arabian 
caravans to be put in bondage by the white race of the North. It is a historical 
fact, that " ancient Egypt was at one period the principal seat of science, litera- 
ture, arts and civilization, and that the various nations or tribes of the African race 
were in close contact, and had a pretty extensive intercourse, not only with the 
Egyptians, but also with the Phoenicians, and afterwards with the Romans. 

What did they profit by this association ? Literally nothing. For while the / 
then almost equally barbarous p'eople of Greece, Asia Minor, and Magna Grsecia, 
raised themselves, in a comparatively brief period, to the highest civilization and 
refinement, the negro race of Africa continues, with but one single solitary excep- 
tion, down even to the present day, immersed in the greatest barbarism. 

It is not p .'ssible that during the space of four thousand years, opportunities 
have not been afforded some of them .to make some slight advances in the scale t^ 
of human improvement. Is there any proof that they have had the sagacity that 
is inherent in the Caucasian family, to pro6t by contact with more favoured na- 
tions? It appears to be a fact, that Africa has not produced a single name wor- 
thy to rank with the heroes and sages of the world." 

From the remotest antiquity, they have been " hewers of wood and drawers 6f 
water" for others ; and from the fact, that during these thousands of years they v" 
have made no advancement towards civilization and self-government, whilst 
other nations under the same circumstances invariably have ; the obvious infe- 
3 



34 THE disunionist; OB, 

rence is, they are incapable of so doijig. That " as a body, they are iucapable 
^ of Hving ill a civilized state, except in the condition of servitude to their more 
favoured fellow men." There is, and ever has been, a marked inequality between 
the African and European races ; and until it is demonstrated that this inequality 
is at an end, we cannot do otherwise than expect its continuance. 

Whilst we maintain that the African race is now, and probably will ever con- 
tinue to be, an inferior race, we do not for a moment agree with those writers 
4 who pronounce that race "a distinct species. We are, on the contrary, glad to 
have at our elbow a late argument in favour of the doctrine of " the Unity of the 
Human Race ; and will, with the greatest satisfaction, borrow a few remarks from 
one who unites in what he says, the twofold authority of the philosopher and the 
christian.* 

" The ways of God are dark and inscrutable to man — he converts evil unto 
good, and often causes the wrath of man to praise him. If Africa is ever destined 
to become civilized and christianized, the first dawn of light to all human appea- 
rances has been reflected on her from the Southern States of America. On the 
other hand, if the negro by his constitutional adaptation to labour in situations 
where we would find only disease and degeneracy, contribute to our wealth and 
comfort, then is he also our benefactor, and hence we will inutualUy have reason 
to bless the wise provision of heaven in constructing the human frame in the va- 
rious races of man, that they in their several gradations can mutually benefit each 
other, by cultivating every soil, the products of which are so necessary to the sup- 
port of man, and by this means binding together the whole human family in one 
bond of universal dependence and brotherhood. 

These people are the peasantry of our southern land — they are the members of 
^ our household — they have been the nurses of our mothers and wives, and they 
are the playmates of our children. If the eftbrts to degrade them into a diffe- 
rent sjiecies, incapable of receiving the truths of Christianity are countenanced 
from political motives, they must inevitably fail, for they are not only unwise and 
rmphilosophical, but being an embodiment of a scientific error with a political folly, , 
it never can unite us in sentiment. If we however, assume the higher grounds 
of Christianity as our authority, we will stand on a foundation which eannot be 
shaken. Here we may all be united in knowing and defending our rights, and 
learning our obligations. The master is here directed how to perform his duties 
with humanity, and minister according to the best of his abilities to the tempo- 
ral comforts, and spiritual wants, and the enduring happiness of his humble fel- 
low men, and the servant is here taught the duty of obedience and gratitude to 
his earthly protectors, and of accountability to God. 

Although we were born in a slave-holding State, and have never resided in a 
State where the Afi'ican did not, at the time, exist both as a slave and a freeman, 
yet our observations were made on two widely separated latitudes, New-York and 
Carolina ; in the latter State, we have resided for the last thirty-five years. From 
"^ these o])portunities so amply aftbrded us, we have been irresistibly brought to the 
conviction, that hi intellectual poivers the African is an inferior variety of our 
species. His whole history a fords evidence that he is i7icapable of self-govern- 
ment. His inferiority, hoicever, in intellect, does not j^rove that he is not a ma«." 

With such high authority as this, we feel fortified in our assertion that there is 
a natural inequality in the conditions of men. And if this is true, the theory of 
abohtionists is completely overturned. The whole theory of abolitionists is based 
^ upon the idea that all men are by nature equal, that is, all men come into this 
world endowed with equal powers, equal rights, equal privileges, and equal claims 
upon society. It is this idea we wish to explode. 

*Tlie Rev. Dr. Bachman of South-Carolina. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 35 

In the first place, it is esseutial that we should understand the difference be- 
tween natural rights and privileges, and political rights and privileges ; we must , 
draw the distinction between natural equality, and })olitical or conventional equa- 
lity. It is certain that when a child is born, its rights and privileges are of a very 
dubious kind, and whatever rights it may have, it is utterly unable to claim the 
least of them. To be sure it has the power of inhaling a portion of the atmos- 
phere which surrounds it, but this is nearly all that can be said of its power of 
claiming and exercising any rights or privileges. It is born with the right to 
live, and the privilege of living, provided it has the power of doing so. This 
we conceive to be the sum total of man's natural and inalienable rights at the ^ 
moment of his birth ; and so far as they only are concerned, we are free to ad- 
mit, all men are born equal. But, immediately upon their being born, the one 
life which each child has, becomes qualified by the state of things around him. 
One child is covered with silken down, another with scanty rags. One becomes 
on the instant, and by virtue of all the laws of nature and society, the heir to 
wealth ; the other, by virtue of the same laws, is the heir to poverty. One is 
pampered with every luxur\ that wealth affords, the other is stinted by all the 
privations which poverty imposes. One is taught from its earliest lisp to breathe 
the sentiments of haugfcty confidence, and acknowledged power, the other learns 
by instinct to keep the humble sphere its parents seem to hold. One is instructed 
in all that can be desired, and every effort of his mind at self-development, is fol- 
lowed by the most assiduous exertions of art to assist and lead it, the other spends 
his days in the mechanical imitation of his industrious sire, but he is poorly in- 
structed,' and none of the auxiliaries of wealth, art and polished society, come to 
assist a single effort of his mind. One reaches manhood and finds himself in the 
lap of plenty, and in the atmosphere of pride and power, the other finds man- '■^ 
hood but another name for constant labour and scanty support. One is seized 
on the decline of life with the torments of disease, he sinks on a bed of down, 
every artifice of wealth is resorted to, to soothe his dying hours ; but he dies, 
and is nothing more than a mere body of matter of certain dimensions, and cer- 
tain composition ; the other is also seized with disease, he sinks on his hard pil- 
low, and amid the poverty of his whole life he also dies, and he is also a mere 
body of matter of certain dimensions, and certain composition. They are equal 
now perhaps, but were they equal all their lives ? They each brought one life 
into this world, and they each carry one life out of it ; they were each born su- 
premely helpless, and they are each now a lifeless carcass. This is the beginning 
and the eiid of their equality. Society, the laws of nature, and the universal 
voice of humanity, gave each of them that position among his fellows which his 
parents occupied before him. But the respective positions which these parents 
occupied Avere not equally elevated, they were distantly removed from each other ; 
how then can any power give them their just inheritance from their parents, and 
yet make them equals. If one is born of rich parents, he must inherit riches ; if w 
the other is born of poor parents, does he not inherit poverty ? He that is born 
of white parents is white, and he that is born of black parents is black. If he is 
born of Enghsh parents is he not English ? If he is born of French parents is 
he not French ? If he is born of Catholic parents is he not Catholic i And if 
he is born of Jewish parenis is he not Jewish ? If he is born of free parents is 
he not free ? And if he is born of slave parents is he not also a slave ? Does 
not the child take the name of the parent, and does not nature stamp the very 
features of the parent upon the child ? Is not the child actually a part of the 
parent, is he not the enlarged and invigorated secretion of the parent's own loins ? 
If, therefore, there are two parents in this world, whose powers, rights, privileges .^ 
and claims upon society are riot equal, and if these parents have children, it fol- 
lows that these children are also not equal. It is only necessary then in order to 



36 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

refute the proposition, that all men are born equal, to show that there have 
been two parents in the world who were not equals ; and, to see such, we have 
only to look upon the first two individuals we meet with. 

Now it is maintained by thousands who pass for sensible people, that though 
the child should inherit the property of its parents, and though every feature of 
the parent is impressed on the child — though the child of fi-ee parents should be 
free — yet there is one single, solitary, isolated condition, which should not be 
transmitted from the parent to the child, and that is slavery. Though numerous 
disea-ses to which parents may be liable, must necessarily be transmitted to the 
child, yet the single condition of servitude to which the parent has been unaltera- 
bly subjected, is never under any circumstances to be transmitted to the child. 
All men it is said are born free, yet there is not a more abject and dependent ob- 
ject in nature than a new born child. 

It does not matter how we acquire property, it is universally acknowled that 
when we die, as we cannot make any further use of our possessions, they should 
be inherited by our children. But if that property happens to be a slave, they 
say the rule does not apply. Abolitionists maintain that though we may legally 
purchase a slave, and have a legal right to her person and services forever, yet we 
have no right to claim her children as ours also. Is it denied that the babe is ours 
at the moment of its conception in the mother's womb ; the mother is ours, the 
whole person of the mother, each and every part of her belongs to us ; the in- 
fant in her womb as being a part of her is also ours ; but in the course of nature 
the infant and the mother are separated, and one body becomes two, those parts 
which were one yesterday, have to day become two. Does this change which has 
taken place in their relation to each other, eftect their relation to us? If they 
both belonged to us yesterday when they were one, why do they not both belong 
to us to-day, when they are by the course of nature become two 1 Because, says 
the abolitionist, all men are born free. Suppose then we admit the proposition ; 
all infants are free ; this mother is ours, but this child is not; we want the mo- 
ther elsewhere, we must take her away, but we must leave the child, it is free, 
we have no right to touch it, we would be infringing upon its rights, we would 
trample on its liberty to carry it away with its parents, it has expressed no desire 
to be moved, therefore we must let it remain Avhere it is. How long will the 
babe, thus left to its helpless state of freedom, live to enjoy its liberty ; and what 
would abolitionists say to such treatment ? Why the language could not signify 
their pious indignation. But if the free infant is not to be abandoned, who is to 
rear and support it; why, we are to do it, of course. And who is to recompense 
us for our care and expense, no body, to be sure. Then our house is to become 
a foundling hospital for free infants, where the milk of human kindness is to flow 
spontaneously and in pure gratuity, whenever our slave thinks fit to bring a free- 
man in the world. We are to dispense our substance for the growth of these 
free and equal babes, without claiming even the obedience we receive from our 
own oft'spring. Who is so fanatical as to enjoin such a course? Yet if all 
men are born free and equal, such a course would not be altogether unavoid- 
able. 

The writer of an article, to which we have already adverted,* very justly re- 
marks, " if it be true now, that all men are born free and equal, it must have 
been true in all ages from the beginning of time. And if this doctrine were true 
in the early ages of society, the fathers of the primitive families would have been 
assassinated by their descendants whom they held in bondage — masters by their 
servants, lords by their vassals, sovereigns by their subjects ; the foundations of 

* See an able argument in the Southern Literary Messenger, 1838, addressed to the late 
Hon. Hugh S. Legare, of South-Carolina. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 3*7 

society would have been broken up before the social edifice was erected, and the 
earth would never have been subdued or colonized. 

This philosophy was the natural offspring- of the French revolution and of the 
school of unbelievers ; it is a doctrine of blood and pillage, and utterly subver- 
sive of that order, which forms the bond of social institutions. False as it is, 
when shall we cease to teach and to believe it? Shall we continue to dismem- 
ber and overturn, by inculcating a theory which has already corrupted many of 
the most gifted of the sons of men, which has arrayed peo]ile against their rulers, 
which has covered the earth with the ruins of the social fabric, and which has 
turned loose upon the face of the earth a spirit of licentiousness, insubordination, 
and riot, that continue to shake to their deepest foundations all existing estab- 
lishments ? 

Let us concede the stern, but unwelcome truth, that the existence, as well as 
the universality of slavery, is to be attributed to the labour required in the in- 
fancy of man to subdue the earth, from which he has been doomed to reap fruit 
in the sweat of his brow — that it was wisely ordained by the author of nature 
himself, and is therefore founded in the very nature of things, and of man. It is 
only when we have lost sight of this sublime truth, that Ave proclaim our absurd 
systems of equality, in a state of nature. 

In considering this question, it is essentially necessary that we should accu- 
rately distinguish between the natural condition of man, and those principles of 
pohtical equality, upon which free civil institutions repose, and which, like those 
of this country, are regulated by a moral compact. And the most couclusive evi- 
dence of the propriety of this distinction, is exhibited in the formation of our 
federal compact, which declares all men to be free and equal, and yet expressly 
recognizes the existence of slavery, maintains and protects the natural right of 
the master over the slave, and makes the slave himself a constituent part of the 
basis of r^k'esentation. All the parties to this contract are free and equal, but 
no one wilrbe so frantic as to contend, that by this declaration of the fundamen- 
tal principle Avhich governs our political compact, it was designed to deny the 
right of slavery either in this free country or elsewhere. The charter itself le- 
galizes, defends, maintains and protects slavery. It is the confusion of ideas, 
which springs from this intermingling of conventional and political equality with 
the natural rights of man, that deludes ns. It will scarcely be affirmed that 
Thomas Jefferson, the author of the declaration of independence, the great apos- 
tle of democracy, and the strenuous advocate of popular rights, deeply imbued 
as he was with the philosophism of the eighteenth century, designed to repudiate 
slavery when he declared all men to be free and equal. To his understanding, 
the distinction was clear between the conventional or political and the natural 
rights of man ; and he well understood that in the formation of a political compact, 
the slave, from his inability to contract, could be no party." The idea that all 
men are born with equal rights, equal privileges, or equal claims upon society, 
is to our apprehension a mere tancy, an abstract delusion, and the foundation of 
the wildest and most impracticable tlieories. It has been from the very begin- 
ning the universal practice of the human family, to leave to custom, convention 
and policy, to determine, constitute, and cUissify the rights and privileges of men. 
We therefore believe there is a natural and a necessary inequality in the condi- 
tion of men ; and the question how for this inequality necessarily extends, is one 
well calculated to rack the^ brains of the Avisest philosopher. 

For our present purpose however, it is sufficient to know that these inequalities 
must, and consequently do exist. And it Avould seem the best Avay to dispose of 
the matter, is by the following brief, but correct course of reasoning. There 
must be naturally either an equality, or an inequalitv in toan's condition. If 
equality is his natural condition, it Avould be usurping nature to bring about an 



38 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

artificial inequality, and during the thousands of years that have transpired since 
the creation of man, his condition would have by this tinae been undisputed, and 
his natural equality would have displaced any artificial inequality which may 
have been instituted. But, on the other hand, if equality is the natural condition 
of man, then it is the duty of all men to submit to tliis inequality; and for the 
good of all, it should be the object of each to lighten the hardships of the others' 
condition. But we have already seen that all men are not, and never have been, 
upon an equal footing in society; that there still exists, as there always has, a vast 
natural inequality in the condition of men. We therefore conclude, that a dis- 
tinction of chvsses will necessarily exist as long as the laws of nature remain un- 
changed ; and that it is the duty of all men to submit to these laws, always how- 
ever endeavouring, if they please, consistently with the laws of society, to lighten 
their burdens as much as local circumstances will permit. 

Let us now see if the people of the South are recreant to their duty. Our 
fathers have determined for us how society should be divided in our country ; 
they have most pfrmanently established two grand classes. Both at the North 
and at the South, all over the country^ the whites and the blacks always have 
been two district classes. The white man has invariably occupied the most emi- 
nent, and the negro the most menial positions. Why this should have been, it 
is not our business to enquire, it is sufficient for us to know that these two classes 
have always existed in accordance with the principle of inequahty of condition ; 
and we also know that in keeping with the same principle, the burdens of the 
negro's condition have been very much lightened by the superior intellect of the 
white man. 

Now it would be unreasonable to suppose that one class would sacrifice every 
consideration for the sake of another, which is materially removed from it in every 
respect, accordingly we find that our northern friends in ameliorating the condi- 
tion of their colored brethren, have not consulted the good of their s»g brothers 
exclusively, but have been decidedly careful in consulting their own interests. 
When free labour became cheaper than slave labour, of course the people of the 
North adopted the cheapest, and for doing so they cannot well be blamed, pro- 
vided they liberated their slaves in a humane manner, and by so doing violated 
none of the established laws of society. For what government or community 
will not invariably exercise economy, and what item involves a greater source of 
economy than the price of labour. We believe, therefore, that the Northern 
States did no more than what was right when they emancipated their slaves, if 
they found free labour cheaper, provided always, they confined their operations 
strictly within their respective limits ; but when we say they were right, we 
would be understood to mean, they were right as far as it effected the white 
slaveholder, or the employer of labourers, whether it materially improved, or 
decidedly aggravated the condition of the slave, we will endeavour to learn. 

In the South, the same principle has ever been at work, the higher class has 
not failed to consult its own interest, and in doing so it necessarily consults that 
of the lower. But the same external causes, among which are climate, soil, pro- 
ductions, and the growth of population, do not operate at the South as they do 
at the North. The white population of the South has never been so propor- 
tioned to its capital, as to be compelled to labour cheaper tlian the slave ; nor 
will the climate of the South permit white labour to be brought in competition 
with slave labour, even if other circumstances did. Slave labour continues, there- 
fore, to be the cheapest, it is carefully fostered, and ever will be as long as it is 
profitable. But is not this inequality, this division of society into classes, this 
system of slavery, then absolutely necessary ? It was bequeathed us by our an- 
cestoi's, all extei-ual causes tend to perpetuate it, and until these causes change, 
what is to terminate it, who is to say this distinction must not be preserved '\ 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 39 

When, on the contrary, these causes change and become so reversed, as to be the i/' 

same as those existing at the North, there can be Mttle doubt that similar effects 
will appear. 

Now as regards the moral obligations of individuals of diiferent classes, we 
must be satisfied to dispense with their consideration ; not because such conside- 
rations would militate against slavery, but because they would be out of place ; 
for we speak of slavery always as a public, a national afiair. And we trust we 
are not so wanting in good sense, as to suppose that this institution is any less 
liable to abuse, on the part of individuals, than others are. We are free to ad- 
mit also that the institution is attended with some serious, but unavoidable evils ; 
but what institution, or system, calculated to replace it, is not ecpally iuconve- • 
nient ? 

The following remarks are those of one of the greatest champions of political 
reform that France could boast during the last century.* lie says, "it has been 
supposed that I proposed to violate the laws of nature, by proposing to establish 
the use of slaves in Europe : but are not these holy laws violated in States, 
where some citizens possess every thing, and others nothing. I beg to remark, \^ 
that the liberty which every European thinks he enjoys, is nothing more than 
the power of occasionally breaking his chains, in order to get himself a new mas- 
ter. Necessity makes him a slave, and his case is the moj-e lamentable, inasmuch 
as nobody provides for his subsistence. It is mendicity that degrades men, and 
that is inevitable in every country that does not set bounds to the cupidity and 
the fortunes of its citizens. It is an insult upon common sense to pretend, that 
every man is free in a coicntry, where one citizen employs another citizen to serve 
him, and condemns him to the vilest, the most laborious, and the most disgusting 
occupations.'''' 

Before we pass to other considerations, we cannot but remark, that in all the 
publications deprecating slaverj- that have met our eye, existing evils have been 
maliciously exaggerated, and abuses, in themselves of trifling consequence, and 
rare occurrence, have been represented as being the result of absolute law. And, 
strange as it may appear, these absurd falsifications so invariably come in the 
garb of truth and pious concern, that some, even in a Southern community, who 
have no excuse for not knowing better, throw aside the truth which they every 
day see, to take up the falsehood of latest importation. Abolitionists, both in 
England and America, are continually conjuring up some rare instance of cruelty, 
and asserting that such is the common mode of treatment which all slaves receive. 
They too frequently indulge in imaginary humanity, at the expense of their own 
substantial veracity. They denounce an institution, on account of a few acci- 
dental abuses to which it is liable. Why, the Christian religion had better be 
denounced, because it is liable to be the occasion of crusades, civil wars, persecu- 
tions and schisms. Does the abolitionist denounce slavery because slaves have 
been cruelly oppressed by a few brutal masters '\ As well might the infidel de- 
nounce Christianity, because Christians have been cruelly tortured by a few Roman 
emperors. Yet this system of reasoning has its advocates. 

A moral and religious view of slavery brings no remorse, nor produces no ter- 
rors to the mind of the slaveholder ; for no deductions follow which are calculated 
to stagger the conscience of the- most consciencious slaveholder. Every body 
knows, who is conversant with Scripture, that " slaves existed, under the divine 
government, among the Jewish people.f The Scriptures distinctly set forth the 
rules by which they shall be made, by which they shall be governed, by which 

* Monsieur L'Abbe de Mably, (Droit Public de I'Europe.) See Southern Quarterly Re- 
view, 1828. 

f A pamphlet caHed '• Slavery at the South." Anonymous. 



40 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

they shall be punished. They are described as bought for a price ; as the pro- 
perty of their masters ; as subject to his will ; as beaten with stripes ; as mark- 
ed ; as sold ; as manumitted ; as placed in every possible position to which the 
condition of slavery is liable. Slavery, then, is recognized, permitted, enjoined by 
the Old Testament ; but that which is recognized, permitted, enjoined by the 
divine law cannot be sinful." Again, " when our Saviour taught, slaves were 
every where about him. He frequently makes allusion to their condition ; he 
denounces every form of sin around him ; he reproves Sadducee and Pharisee 
without scruple ; but he uses no expression that can be tortured into a condem- 
nation of slavery. The apostles were in the midst of slavery, in its worst forms 
and abuses, in Asia Minor, Greece and Italy. It could not, therefore, elude their 
observation. They taught the new converts to Christianity not only the great 
truths of religion, and the rules of morals, but many minor observances incidental 
to their situation, many regulations of behaviour, and even of dress, becoming 
their new condition and profession, and rebuked any infringement of them with 
severity. If slavery were a sin, it could not, therefore, escape either their notice 
or their condemnation. But there is not, in the New Testament, a single expres- 
sion, which even insinuates a condemnation of slavery." In view of these tacts, 
it cannot be said that slavery is either immoral or sinful. 

Whatever is immoral must be sinful. If, therefore, slavery is immoral it must be 
sinful. But if it is sinful it must be an oftence against the laws of God. To 
learn, then, if it is an oftence against those laws, we must tirst know what are the 
laws of God. The laws of God, according to our understanding, are those man- 
dates, precepts, regulations and commandments, recorded in the Old and New 
Testaments, which ^vere delivered through Moses and the prophets, and afterwards 
through Christ. But none of the mandates, precepts, regulations or command- 
ments delivered by Moses, the prophets, or Christ and his apostles, prohibit 
slavery, but rather enjoin and regulate it. Slavery, then, is not a sin ; and, as it 
is not a sin, it therefore cannot be immoral. 

Many persons, however, maintain that slavery is a sin ; and, in deference to 
their better judgment, we will waive that jjoint, and reason thus : It must either 
be no sin, or it must be a sin ; that every body will admit. If it be no sin, then 
it may with propriety be practised in a christian community, and abolitionists are 
wrong to oppose it, on the grounds of its being sinful. But if it is a sin, then 
not only Moses, who delivered the law, but Christ, who came to perfect the law, 
and his apostles, who were taught to j)rac( ice the law, sanctioned and regulated a 
violation of the law. And if fheT/ countenanced this sin, why should Christians 
of the present day be afraid to do the same ? As they approved of the commit- 
ment of this sin, no Christian should hesitate, from consciencioiis scruples, to 
commit this sin, which is so clearly fostered by their divine sanction and regula- 
tion. It would certainly be presujiiption in any man, to be ashamed to do that 
which received the sanction, and operated under the regulations of the divine 
founder of his creed. Thus, while we do not here attempt to say whether slavery 
is a sin or not, we do say that, if it is a sin, the Redeemer of the world holds out 
an inducement for man to commit it.* 

Nothing aftbrds a stronger inducement for man to commit this so-called sin — 
or rather, no poition of Scripture affords better evidence to the sane mind, that 
slavery cannot he a sin — than that text which relates to our Saviour's healing the 
centurion's sick servant. After recording the centurion's application to Christ for 
an instance of his mercy, to be bestowed upon a sick servant, St. Luke gives us 
the answer, in these words : " When Jesus heard these things he marvelled at 

* See the 7th chapter of St. Luke. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 41 

liim, and turned him about and said unto the people that followed hiua, I say 
unto you, / have not found so great fafth, no, not in Israel" 

This o-reat feith was found in the centurion who was the master of the sick 
servant.*' The greatest faith which our Saviour found in Israel was in the bosom 
of a slaveholder. Now, if slavery was a sin, it would have been a sin for this 
centurion to own a slave. But Christ, himself, tells us that this centurion had 
greater faith than any other in Israel ; and we all know that he who has faith 
must necessarily avoid sin in every way he can ; and one having such a superior 
degree of faith as this centurion, must have been peculiarly exempt from sin. 
But this centurion, who was thus peculiarly exempt from sin, was a slaveholder. 
Therefore, we conclude that, as the man who had greater fiiith than any other in 
all Israel was a slaveholder, and that, so far from being rebuked by Christ for 
being a slaveholder, he was extolled for his superior faith, slavery cannot be a sin ; 
or, if it is, it is such a sin that Christ extols the faith of one who commits it. 



CHAPTER VII. 
" Caesar, beware the ides of March." 



As A political institution, slavery can hardly be called an evil ; for, though 
there may be evils belonging to it, yet there are so many benefits to society 
resulting from it, that the good of it has a vast preponderance over the evil of it. ' 
"To say that there is evil in any institution, is only to say that it is human." 
But it would be folly to say that any political institution is an evil, because there 
are a few evils which cannot well be separated from it. With regard to the 
system of slavery practised in the Southern States, the folly of such an assertion 
would be superlative. For no custom which invariably, and with the utmost 
degree of certainty, promotes, and actually cazises the civilization of the human 
race, even though it be accompanied with a variety of inconveniences, can be 
esteemed an evit. And if there is one custom of society which has served, in 
all ages and in every climate, to civilize the human race, more effectually than 
any other custom, it is slavery. 

It has been remarked, by one of the ablest jurists of the age,* that, it any 
thmo- can be predicated, as universally true, of uncultivated man, it is, that he 
wiUliot labour beyond what is absolutely necessary to raaintam his existence. 
Labour is iiain, to those who are unaccustomed to it, and the nature of man is 
averse to pain.' Even with all the training, the helps and motives of civilization, 
we find that this aversion cannot be overcome, in many individuals of the most 
cultivated societies. The coercion of slavery, alone, is adequate to form man to 
habits of labour. Without it, there can be no accumulation of property, no 
providence for the future, no taste for comforts or elegancies, which are the cha- 
racteristics and essentials of civilization. He who has obtained the command ot 
another's labour, first begins to accumulate and provide for the future, and 
the foundations of civilization are laid. We find confirmed by experience that 
which is so evident in theory. Since the existence of man upon the earth, with 
no exception whatever, either of ancient or modern times, every society which 
has attained civilization, has advanced to it through this process. 

" Will those who regard slavery as immoral, or crime in itself, tell us that man 
was not intended for civilization, but to roam the earth as a biped brute ?" 

* Chancellor Harper, m his " Memou- on Slavery." 



42 THE DINUNIONIST ; OR, 

Cicero tells us, " there is a true law, a ri^ht reason, conforrnable to nature, uni- 
versal, uncliangable, eternal " — a law which " is not one thing at Rome, another 
at Athens, one thing to-day, another to-morrow ; but, in all times and nations, 
this universal law must forever reign, eternal and imperishable." Such a law is 
the law of nature, upon which the law of society is based, which makes one man 
master and another slave. Can the institution which springs from such a law be 
an evil ? or, if it is an evil, can it be avoided ? 

As for the Southern States, they can have, literally, nothing to apprehend from 
their domestic institutions. Slavery, as a political institution, is the result of such 
a law as Cicero describes. Wherever there is a political community it will be 
fortitied against usurpation, and secured against popular tumults of all kinds, by 
a well-regulated system of domestic slavery ; and, where a distinction of race 
can be made to accompany that of rank, the advantage is two-fold. All civilized 
society will necessarily settle down into two grand classes, one of which will com- 
prise all capitalists, and the other all labourers. We think we have already shown 
that the former cla-ss will own the latter, either under one set of laws or another; 
either as hireling slaves or as domestic slaves. In England, and at the North, 
the labourers are hireling slaves ; at the South, the labourers are chiefly domestic 
slaves. In taking a political view of the subject, then, we merely have to deter- 
mine whether our system of domestic slavery insures public tranquillity, private 
rights, and the general welfare, in an equal or a greater degree than the hireling 
system. 

In every possible stage of society, there must be individuals who perform the 
duties and discharge the various oflices of society ; some of these duties are 
agreeable and exalted, others are disagreeable and humiliating ; some offices are 
enviable and honourable, whilst others are servile and degrading ; but they are 
not the less discharged on these accounts — they must be performed, and the 
individual members of society must perform them. Those who perfoiiu the 
higher offices are regarded by the individuals of the community in which they 
live, as somewhat exalted ; and those who perform the more menial are regarded 
as being*somewhat degraded. The different offices of society are, then, naturally 
classified in two grand divisions : those which are deemed honourable and desi- 
rable, and those which are regarded as servile and degrading. Of course, capi- 
talists will discharge the former, and labourers will discharge the latter offices. 
But, as soon as the individuals of society and the offices of society are thus 
arrayed in such unmistakable positions as they must necessarily assume, their 
relative merits immediately appear ; and the idea of superiority on the part of 
capitalists, who are either masters or employers, and of inferiority on the part of 
labourers, who arc either slaves or hirelings, becomes permanently established. 
The latter class is generally looked upon as a degraded portion of society, and, 
in cojnjMrison with the former, it certainly is degraded. If, then, this degraded 
class constitutes a portion of the x>olitical community, it may be said that it is in 
part a degraded community, and a degraded element is certainly introduced into 
the body politic. But if this degraded class is excluded from the political com- 
munity, the superiority which is attributed to the individuals of the other class 
attaches itself to the community of which these individuals constitute the ent'rety. 
Moreover, it has been found, in all ages, that the introduction of such an elemmit 
as we have termed a degraded element, into the body politic, is also the intro- 
duction of a dangerous element; for such an element invariably tends to violate 
the rights of property, to usurp the supremacy of law, and to overturn govern- 
ment itself. Now, in the system of hireling slavery, which is practised in Eng- 
land, France, and at the North, this dangerous element is admitted into the 
political community ; but, in the system of domestic slavery, practised at the 
South, this dangerous clement is not admitted into the political community. 



SECESSION, THE RtGHTFUL REMEDY. 43 

The consequence of these facts is perfectly obvious, and equally well known. 
At the South, where this element is excluded from the body politic, no obstinate 
contest can ever arise between capital and labour. At the North, and wherever 
this element is admitted into the body politic, capital and labour wage eternal 
wars against each other ; and these wars must eventually destroy the stability of 
all governments where universal suffrage prevails ; for they never fail to convert 
the gravest senate into the wildest mob, or the most conservative power into the 
most absolute despotism. At the South, it is impossible for such conflicts ever to 
occur. Capital and labour are indissolubly united ; the labourer is himself capi- 
tal ; he has no opportunity to retard the progress of government, or stay the exe- 
cution of law, by the promulgation of those detestable agrarian principles, which 
have with such startling rapidity, of late years, taken possession of the Northern 
people. Why then should we be astonished to hear it come from the lips of a 
consummate statesman, that " slavery is the most safe and stable basis for free 
institutions in. the world."* And from another, that " domestic slavery instead 
of being an evil, is the corner stone of our republican edifice."f 

It is unquestionably true that the etibrts of abolitionists to frighten timid young 
men, and terrify nervous old women, with the horrors of rebellion, have not al- 
ways been without their effects. ' There are innumerable pamphlets constantly 
pouring from the press of the Northern States ; some containing what are called 
sermons, some containing addresses, some letters, some the proceedings and de- 
bates of abolition conventions, some the testimony of travellers and residents in 
the slaveholding States, and some got up expressly for the benefit of California 
and New Mexico ; but all teeming with the grossest sophistry and the most 
wholesale falsehoods. These publications find their way to every town or village 
in nearly evel-y State in the Union. The boldest efforts are made to alarm the 
slaveholder, by laying before him, in the most glaring colours, the eminent dan- 
gers of his situation ; the minds of enthusiasts are excited into frenzied zeal in 
the ylorious cause ; the ignorant are duped, and the curious puzzled by the hor- 
rors of slavery and the glory of universal emancipation ; the understanding of the 
slave himself is confounded, and his own senses contradicted by these never-e||d- 
ing tirades. The unlettered slave, as he spells his way, word by word, through 
the obscure and unmeaning sentences of the pamphlet before him, or as he listens 
to the jargon of his deluded associate, conceives but a vague idea of the subject 
before him. He believes there is some good coming, but the nature of what is 
to come he does not know. He believes for the while, that he has better friends 
elsewhere, than he has at home, but who they are, and where they are, he does 
not know. He believes he is an injured man, but what is the nature of the in- 
jury he has never been enabled to conceive. His anxiety is aroused, his curiosity 
is excited, his hopes raised, and his vanity flattered ; but all for what, he really 
does not know. He becomes restless and impatient, his industry is ruined, his 
contentment gone, his temper is soured, and his happiness forsake-^ him. He first 
becomes idle, then surly, impertinence and disobedience follow, till retributive 
punishment recalls him to his senses. What, then, are the effects of these publi- 
cations ? They do not, in the slightest degree, benefit the community. They 
destroy the happiness of the slave altogether ; for they not only banish content- 
ment from his once grateful heart, but compel the master to be more rigid in his 
disciuline, and more guarded in his indulgences. Municipal regulations are more 
strictly observed, and the vigilance of the police is constantly redoubled, till the 
overt act of some deluded victim brings him to the scaffold, and thus, for a time, 
recalls the neighbourhood to its former tranquillity. 

These caus.es and these effects have so long been in oi>eration, that some of the 

■" Tilr. Calliouti in the Senate, January, 1840. \ Mr. McDuffic. 



44 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

most troublesome of them are beginning to disappear ; thongh we are still com- 
pelled to view with distrust and severity those slaves, whom we would otherwise 
be disposed to regard with confidence and leniency. Yet the evils which might 
formerly have been feared, on account of the ignorance, impulsiveness and impro- 
vidence of these people have considerably disappeared. 

It is a truth which cannot be questioned, that " hope long deferred maketh the 
heart sick," and it is illustrated in the long deferred hopes which abolitionists 
have for fifty years been holding out. " Forty years ago," says a fluent writer 
from Georgia,* " any thing looking to the emancipation of our slaves, was spoken 
of only in whispers, and was printed only in asterisks ; now, we all talk as openly 
and freely about the abolitionists and their aims, as we do of almost any other 
subject. The truth is, they have heard so long, and so much about abolitionism, 
and seen so little good result from it, that they begin to think you really care 
nothing for them, or that your friendship is not worth having. . The soundest 
philosophy that ever emanated from a negro's brain." 

The whole result of the abolition agitation, so far Ss it eflects the social and 
political condition of our slaves, is thus summed up by an able advocate of South- 
ern rights.f He says ; " Of late years we have been not only annoyed, but 
greatly embarrassed in this matter, by the abolitionists. We have been compel- 
led to curtail some privileges ; we have been debarred from granting new ones. 
In the face of discussions which aim at loosening all ties between master and 
slave, we have, in some measure, to abandon our eftbrts to attach them to us and 
control them through their aft'ections and pride. We have to rely more and more 
on the power of fear. We must, in all intercourse with them, assert and main- 
tain strict mastery, and impress it on them that they are slaves. This is painful 
to us, and certainly no present advantage to them. But it is thcidirect conse- 
quence of the abolition agitation. We are determined to continue masters, and 
to do so, we have to draw the reign tighter and tighter day by day, to be assured 
that we hold them in complete check. How far this process will go on, depends 
wholly and solely on the abolitionists. I do not mean by all this, to say that we 
are in a state of actual alarm and fear of our slaves; but. under existing circum- 
stances, we should be ineftabl}' stupid not to increase our vigilance and strengthen 
our hands." And may we not add a truth, which has now become evident to all, 
that there is a point at which this process would become suicidal ; and ichenever 
this 2Mmt is reached, we vjill be compelled, in self-defence, to direct our measures, 
no longer against the slave, who is but the victim of a strange delusion, but 
against the resioxsible agent, the true aggressor, the abolitionist himself. 

There is one measure lately adopted by Northern abolitionists, which, as a com- 
bination of consummate impudence and open falsehood, is perhaps superior to any 
thing which has ever been levelled against the South. It is entitled, " An Address 
to the inhabitants of Neiv Mexico arid California, on the omission by Congress to 
provide them with territorial governments, and on the social and political evils of 
slavery" Published in New- York, for the Am. and For. Anti-Slavery Society, 
in 1849. The object of this address, was to induce the people of those territo- 
ries to exclude slavery by every possible means they could resort to ; and without 
caring to inquire whether it has had any material efl'ect upon the minds of those 
to whom it was addressed, it afibrds a good specimen of the untiring etibrts 
which are constantly made by the people of the North to degrade the South in 
the eyes of all who come within their reach. For the sake of attaining these 
ends, the signers of this address broadly denounce the feelings of slaveholdei-s, 
the state of religion in our community, and the piety of our ministers, and even 

* " A Voice from the South," signed " Georgia," published in Baltimore, in 1847, 
f Gov. Hammond's Lettens to Thomas Clarkson, p. 12. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 45 

cast odium upon the state of morals at the South, though they would not dare 
to compare it with that of the North. They impute to us a total disregard for 
human life, and for constitutional obligations! They ascribe to us a desire to 
annihilate the liberty of speech, as well as the liberty of the press, because we 
will not allow the open promulgation of treachery and rebellion. But what is 
equally absurd, though perhaps more glaring in its falseness, they attribute to us 
a degree of military weakness, which would make us contemptible, if there was 
the least truth in their assertions. 

They commence to discuss our " military weakness," by giving the remarks of 
" a distinguished foreigner," but without giving us the name or the nation of their 
distinguished traveller, that we may be enabled to judge for ourselves as to the 
weight of his authority. They say, " a distinguished foreigner, after travellino- in 
the Southern States, remarked that the very aspect of the country bore testimony 
that, defenceless and exposed as they are, it would be madness to hazard a civil 
ivar ;* and surely no people in the world have more cause to shrink from an ap- 
peal to arms. We find at the South no one element of military strength^ They 
then go on to say, that those classes of society which, in other countries, would 
supply material for armies, aie regarded at the South as the most deadly foes. 
And, as an evidence of the weakness they impute to us, they attempt to show, 
that during the revolutionary war a considerable portion of the Southern militia 
was toithdr awn from tlve defence of the country, to protect the slaveholders from 
the vengeance of their own bondmen. How much it is to be regretted that these 
abolitionists are not more explicit in what they say. If they could only accom- 
pany their assertions with something like an evidence that what they say is true, their 
remarks might then claim the serious attention of the reader. As it is, however, ./ 
we merely advert to a few, because we believe the majority of our readers but 
seldom see the calumnies which are heaped upon them by tlie Northern press. 

These abohtionists go on, in their address, which is to enlighten so many un- 
wary Californians and Mexicans, to say, in plain language, that an invading 
enemy would strike the first blow at the slave system, and thus aim at revolu- 
lution — a revolution that would give liberty to two and a half millions of human 
beings ; and that such a war would be very embarrassing to the slaveholders, and 
the more horrible, because, as formerly in South-Carolina, a large share of their W- 
military force would necessarily be employed, not in fighting the enemy, but in 
guarding the social system ; meaning, we suppose, by the term social system, the 
system of domestic slavery. Then comes the " unkindest cut of all." No per- 
sons, say they, are more sensible of their hazardous situation, than the slave- 
holders themselves ; and hence, as is common with people who are secretly con- 
scious of their own weakness, they attempt to supply the want of strength by a 
bullying insolence, hoping to eft'ect by intimidation what they well know can be 
effected in no other way. This game, they say, has long been played, and with 
great success, in Congress. And, finally, they remark that the slaveholders, 
whatever may be their vaunts, are conscious of their military weakness, and 
shrink from any contest which may cause a foreign army to plant the standard of 
emancipation upon their soil. " The very idea of an armed negro startles their 
fearful imaginations. ''^ 

These are a few of the slip-shod assertions, under the head of " military weak- 
ness," which appear in this patriotic address. They will not be disputed here, 
but when we come to discuss the military resources of the South, we will be en- 
abled to learn whether they are true or false. It must not, however, be supposed 
that the writers of this address have referred to a single authentic document, to 
prove what they assert with regard to Southern militia, during the revolutionary 

* Alluding, we suppose, to the event of a war between the North and the South. 



46 I'HE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

war. And, although their production teems with extracts from the speeches or 
writings of worthier men tjian themselves, yet, on the score of military weakness, 
they have nut advanced the least authority, nor the slightest argument, to main- 
tain their position. It is true, they have inserted a paragraph from the secret 
journal of Congress, but it affords no proof, it amounts to nothing. We will 
presently see the true state of things in this respect. 

Certain English and American abolitionists have slandered the African charac- 
ter to no small extent. They imjnite to their sable brothers the dark crime of 
ingratitude. And we would not stop to exonerate the Africans from this charge, 
did we not believe many of them to be vastly the superiors of their white tra- 
ducers. It is constantly said that, during the revolutionary war, the great mass 
of the slaves were so overjoyed at the prospect of escaping from their owners, 
that they flocked by thousands to the British standard, and the few who were not 
so fortunate as to escape, required a considerable portion of the Southern militia 
to be withdrawn from fighting the enemy, to keep down rebellion among the 
slaves. Perhaps no falsehood could be a more open contradiction to history than 
this. And it is a fortunate circumstance, that the ])resent generation is not com- 
pelled to rely solely on loritten history for their infurmation on this score ; but 
Ave have all had abundant oppertunities to learn from the lips of those who were 
actors in the scene, the truth as regards the conduct of the slaves they had about 
them, and which Messrs. Jat & Co. would have us believe they stood in so much 
awe of. 

We are told that, during the revolutiijiiary struggle,'''' the British carried off 
according to Ramsay, " 25,000 slaves from South-Carolina," and from Georgia, 
according to McCall, one half. But these States were long held as conquered 
provinces, and the slaves seized and sold to the West Indies. Those \i\\o joined. 
the British, under promise of freedom, were mostly carried t>> X(jva Scotia, and 
afterwards sent to Sierra Leone. Clarkson computes the number at Nova Scotia, 
after the war, at upwards of 2,000, men, women and children,! but only 1,131 
were ever sent to Sierra Leone. No doubt, a large proportion of these renegades 
were native Africans ; and that the number was, under the circumstances, so 
small, is a strong proof that in time of war we should have little to fear from the 
seductions of an invading army. We are inclined to think that, as things now 
stand, the abolitionists annually kidnap and seduce more slaves away, than could 
be taken from us in a cam]jaign on our soil. 

In fact, our history, like tliat of the ancient repubhcs, shows, that in war our 
slaves have been found faithful allies. Numerous proofs of this might be given, 
did our space permit. As early as 1747, the provincial legislature of South-Ca- 
rohna passed an act for enlisting slaves, to the number of one-third of the males, 
and in Charleston one-half The preamble of that act is conclusive evidence, of 
the highest authority, of their well-tried fidelity. It begins thus : " Whereas, it 
Las been found bi/ experience that several negroes and other slaves have, in times 
of war, behaved themselves with great faithfulness and courage, in repelling the 
attacks of his majesty's enemies, in their descents upon this province, &c." 

Mr. Madison, afterwards President of the United States, placed so much reli- 
ance on the feithful adherence to the interests of his master by the African slave, 
that he once advised the enlistment of slaves to serve in the armies and to defend 
the country.J Yet, the cry in every bodies' mouth, is I'ebeUion ! insurrection ! 
"Why, thousands upon thousands of armed soldiery, with the most blood-thirsty 
violence, have not been able to subdue the hireling slaves of Europe, yet there is 

* Tlie North and South, by Elwood Fisher. 

f 2,000, out of a population of about 500,000, is indeed a small proportion, and evidences 
no very great desire to escape, or to rebel. 
^ See Madison's Papers. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 47 

no such force required here. If the spirit of insubordination existed amono- our 
happy slaves, why has there never been a necessity for such arnitd forces ? 

During the revolutionary war, when whole districts of country were left entire- 
ly to women, children, and slaves, with nothing but an overruling power to pre- 
serve disciphne ; not one active white man within tifty miles ; with British pro- 
mises of the most enticing nature, and with the most sedulous instigations to re- 
volt, the African slaves, " so far from proving treacherous, or desertino- their mas- 
ters, continued their labours upon the plantation, and no faithful vvatch-doo" was 
ever more true in giving the alarm, on the approach of an enemy, or, if needed, 
to assist their master's family to escape to a place of safety." And we are told 
by British writers themselves, that " slaves were often pressed into the service of 
the British, and those that would not promise to renounce slavery for liberty, were 
made to work on the fortifications. They obeyed through necessity, until an op- 
portunity offered for them to return to their masters ; and but few of them left 
the country with their benevolent liberators ; and even some who did, afterwards 
found their way back from Novia Scotia, and joyfully returned to the comforts of 
slavery." 

And where, let us ask, has any stable government ever been overturned, or in 
any way seriously injured by the rebellion of its slave population ? Surely not 
in the insurrection at St. Domingo ! That island was not a sovereign state, nor 
had it ever a stable government, it was the mere colony of a distracted state. 
That insurrection was not the creation of slaves, it was the work of the " Amis 
des Noirs," in France, and the abolitionists in England, as we will see in the 
sequel. We solemnly believe, that let the number of our slave i)opulation be 
what it may, the Southern States have no diyiger to apprehend, but the evils 
arising out of the too close connection we bear to the Northern States. 

As to any danger arising solely out of our system of domestic slavery, we are 
as safe as man can be. The entire history of man is but a succession of blood- 
shed and revolution ; we continually uieet with rebellions and insurrections of 
people whose political rights have been trampled under foot, and whose condition 
has been rendered insupportable by oppressive laws. The revolution of the 
American colonies was a rebellion, and a very proper one, of a free people, whose 
political rights and privileges had been grossly abused ; but there was nothing in 
that struggle which partook, in any measure, of the nature of a servile insurrec- 
tion. And, as to any of those local insurrections which may have occurred among 
the ancient Greeks, they were nothing more than the result of religious supersti- 
tion — the miserable slaves of those ages were sometimes deluded by imaginary 
signals from the gods. But, what is very certain, the signal for rebellion inva- 
riably proved the signal for the disastrous defeat and fearful massacre of the 
unwary dupes. 

Even on the score of the elopement, or the abduction of slaves from the fron- 
tier slaveholding States, we are astonished to find how comparatively futile the 
efforts of abolitionists have been. In the frontier counties of Maryland, adjoining 
Pennsylvania, there are 10,000 slaves. In many of these counties there are as 
many, and in some more, free negroes than slaves, and perhaps more anti-slavery 
white men than slaveholders ; " yet the slaves here adhere to the service of their 
masters with nearly the some fidelity that they do in the interior counties of 
South-Carolina."* And in the river counties of Kentucky, bordering on Ohio 
and Indiana, the slaves, instead of escaping and diminishing in numbers, hav;e 
increased more than three-fold in forty years, notwithstanding, there are persons 
ever ready to facilitate their escape. 

* See DeBow's Commercial Review, of 1849. 



»/ 



48 THE disunionist; or, 

It is, however, absolutely necessary that we should keep an ever watchful eye 
on the doino-s of our Northern neighbours. And the only source from wliich 
danijer arises, even in that quarter, is the too close connection which exists be- 
tween them and us. If all the Northern States formed one confederacy, and all 
the Southern States formed another, each, being a distinct government, would 
enact its own laws, without having to consult the other. Thus, the Northern 
republic could adopt as many Wilinot provisos, in its own territories, as it pleased; 
and the Southern republic could adopt whatever measures, within its own terri- 
tory, as it pleased. In such an event, instead of the constant wrangling which is 
now kept up in our national legislature, the subject of slavery would be forever 
abandoned from the politics of the North, and calmly considered in the councils 
of the South. 

In the present state of affairs, however, the South and the North are yoked 
together, practically, and perhaps avowedly, the most unwilling associates. While 
we maintain that slavery is not a political evil, and would assure the North that 
we are satisfied to remain under the dominion of customs we have always che- 
rished ; the people of that more enlightened land cannot allow us to persist in 
an error, which is, to their microscopic eyes, of the most gigantic import. But, 
after all, how are we to estimate the merits of our political and social institutions, 
unless we compare them with those of other nations. Now, to carry out such a 
comparison to its full extent, would be the occasion of an elaborate volume, so 
we will leave that task to the reader himself, after inserting a few remarks. 

If our domestic slavery is a political evil, let us see if it is a greater or a lesser 
evil than the hireling slavery ?)f the North and of Europe. In the first place, 
we will take it for granted, that any institution, to be a political evil, must serve 
to enervate, degrade, or corrupt the political community in which it exists, and, 
if it does produce these effects in the community, they must, sooner or later, 
appear in the government under which that community exists, especialli/ if that 
government is a popular one, such as ours is. 

It is fashionable, at the North, to declaim violently against slavery, and to 
make every assertion of which the language is susceptible, as well as many winch 
can belong to no language at all, calculated to impress upon the minds of people 
that it is the greatest combination of crimes that the world ever saw ; and these 
assertions have so long been in vogue, that their falseness and absurdity are com- 
pletely forgotten by the credulity of men. We were never more thoroughly 
convinced of this than we were a short time ago, during a temporary sojourn in 
the city of Cincinnati. Whilst there the " Minutes of the Christian Anti-Slavery 
Convention " was issued from the press. This convention was a convocation of 
abolitionists, which was called for the purpose of considering "the connection of 
the American Church with the sin of slaveholding." Sermons were preached, 
prayers dehvered, committees appointed, resolutions adopted, and finally, a grand 
address dehvered to the " American Churches." We -would not pay this conven- 
tion the compliment of a passing notice, were it not that its proceedings come to our 
assistance in illustrating the style and temper of the fashionable jargon which every 
^ay becomes more and more in vogue in the Northern States. We will insert but 
one example. The address proceeds to say,* " Slavery js evil in all its tenden- 
cies — a Bohon Upas, that poisons the moral atmosphere all around it. The 
injuries it inflicts on the oppressed are returned, if possible, with double vengeance, 
on the head of the oppressor. It pollutes the morals of a rising family, depraves 
and degrades society, and engenders a spirit of violence and blood. Slavery is a 
crime which is, at this moment, working immense mischief in the moral, social 

* See page 36, " Minutes of the Christian Anti-Slavery Convention, convened in Cincinnati, 
in April, 1850. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDIT. 49 

and religious interests of our country — waging a deadly war against the principles 
of rio-hteousness in the church, mid of liberty/ in the State, and threatening to 
overthrow all that our fathei's toiled and bled for — a crime which, according to 
the established laws of God's moral and providential government, exposes our 
nation, most fearfully, to the terrible judgments of heaven, and, unless repented 
of, the sure presage of wrath and ruin." 

In another part of the North — in the city of Boston — the pulpit of the Twen- 
ty-eighth Congi'egational Church was the rostrum from which the following 
political discoveries were gratuitously published to the astonished world :* 

" In the day when the monarchs of Europe are shaken from their thrones ; 
when the Russian and the Turk abolish slavery ; when cowardly Naples awakes from 
her centuries of sleep, and will have freedom ; when France prays to become a 
republic, and in her agony sweats great drops of blood ; while the tories of the 
world look on, and muck, and wag their heads ; and while the Angel of Hope 
descends, with trusting words, to comfort her, shall America extend slavery ? 
butcher a nation, to get soil to make a field for slaves ?" And afterwards, the 
more astonishing discovery : " Slavery has already been the blight of this nation, 
the curse of the Nor'h and the curse of the South. It has hindered commerce, 
manufactures, agriculture. It confounds your politics. It has silenced your 
ablest men. It has muzzled the pidjat, (surely not this pulpit) and stifled the 
better life out of the press. It has robbed three million men of what is dearer 
than life ; it has kept back the welfare of seventeen millions more. You ask, 
Oh Americans, where is the harmony of the Union ? It was broken by slavery. 
Where is the treasure we have wasted ? It was squandered by slavery. *Where 
are the men lue sent to Mezico ? They were murdered by slavery. And now 
the slave power comes forward, to ]Hit her new minions, her thirteenth president, 
upon the nation's neck ? Will the North say ' Yes V " 

These specimens will suffice ; but if every production of this kind could be 
collected together, there is no roof on the continent that could cover them. Let 
us now come to the reality of things. If, reader, you are a resident of any of 
the Southern States, you must be already acquainted with the state of the politi- 
cal community of the South; and if you are a resident of any of the Northern 
States, we have no desire to inform you on the subject, for we are not addressing 
ourselves to you, and care but little for your opinions. 

We have already endeavoured to show how exempt the Southern States must 
be from anything like a war between ca]iital and labour, and how certainly such 
wars must occur in countries where domestic slavery is excluded. For actual 
instances of such contests, we have only to look at the State of France, and even 
the condition of some of the Northern States is familiar evidence of the soundness 
of our doctrine. A variety of causes have been, for some time back, aggravating 
this cruel war between capital and labour, in many European States ; but in 
France the consequences have been marked. There the essence of modern liberty 
seems doubly concentrated, in the glorious principles of socialism and red repub- 
licanism; law, order, society, decency, government, and even religion, must there 
bow down to the shrine oi liberty as it is tossed about by the convulsions of^ 
mob. In France, t*he spirit of agrarianism, and ihe rule of mobs have "swept 
away government after government, like the waves of the sea; one dictatorship 
has followed another — now an emperor, now a. king, now the boiirr/coise capital- 
ists, and now mere numbers, all equally unstable. And all this, despite the fact that 
France has been, under all dynasties, since the first revolution, eminently demo- 
cratic in her civil laws. The reason is not hard to discover. At the bottom of 

* See " A Sermon on the Mexican War ;" by the Rev. Theodore Parker. Published in 
Boston, in 1848. 
4 



50 THE DISUNIONISt; OB, 

French politics — and the same idea apphes with equal truth to the free States of 
the North — liestheidea that might makes right ; in other words, that a majority 
of mere numbers has a natural, indefeasible, and absobute right, to govern the 
minority. No matter about the injustice and oppression of the rule, the minority 
has no remedy, short of civil war."* 

"France is the living and unhappy proof of all our reasonings. The reaction 
against the tyranny of the numerical majority, as 2)uhlic opinion^ produces the 
multitude of ' false doctrines, heresies, and schisms,' the growing infidelity, the 
Grahamites, the Fourierites, the Mormonism, and Millerisra, and all those wild 
vagaries of fanaticism, to which the people of the free States are so prone, but 
which cannot live beneath our Southern sun. The reaction against the tyranny 
of the numerical majority, as goverrwicnt, begets the proclivity to mobs and 
tumults, the instability of all constitutions and laws, which we see manifesting 
itself in the free States. The only rebellion ever known in the United States, 
against thg exercise of undisputed constitutional authority, was in Pennsylvania. 
In Rhode Island, the Dorrites would have waged civil war, if their leader's cour- 
age had not failed him at the crisis, not for any great principle, but only to deter- 
mine, by a trial of actual j^hysical force — a most rational and logical test — which 
party was the sovereign numerical juajority. Federal authority had to be invoked. 
When has a Southern State ever had to call in foreign aid to settle her domestic 
difSculties ? The legislature at Harrisburg had to be brought to order by a mili- 
tary force ; and the senate of Ohio, after one or two hundred ball'otings, lately 
elected a speaker, who has since been forced to resign, for bargain and corruption. 
The State was near being thrown into a state of anarchy last year, by the ina- 
bility of the legislature to determine who were its members. In the chief cities, 
mobs dispute the right of private citizens to consult their own taste in a play 
actor; they set fire to convents of helpless females, and they tear down the house 
of God, because it shelters the wretched emigrant from their brutal fury. And 
yet, when a citizen- soldier has the nerve to fire upon them, and vindicate the ma- 
jesty of the law — an example of moral courage, alas ! too seldom found at the 
North — instead of receiving the thanks of the whole community, his house is the 
mark of the midnight incendiary, and all the public avenues of public honours 
are forever closed to his approach." 

" The love of true liberty, and manly independence of thought, cannot flourish 
in such a community ; the greediness of office, and the love of power, take their 
place ; there is an eager courting of popular favour, a feverish fear of differing in 
opinion from the majority, a making haste to leave the few and join the many. 
Hence, the politicians of the free States have always been wanting in the compre- 
hensive views necessary to found governments or parties, and in the moral courage, 
the energy, and administrative talent, requisite to conduct them with success." 

In that Agrarian community, the laws ^>f the hind which ensure to the citizen 
the peaceable enjoyment of his property, are openly, and with impunity set at 
defiance ; so much so, that in many parts of the North long leases of land are 
rarely heard of, for they ai'e distrusted, and there are just grounds to fear that 
tenants with such leases would refuse to surrender the property at the close of 
their term, and the landlord, perhaps, be unable to find sufficient law in the land 
to compel them to do so. " whole counties have united in refusing to pay rents, 
which were justly due, and the officers of the lq,w, while in the execution of its 
mandates, have been deliberately murdered. Arid these violators of the rights 
of property and life ; of the laivs of God and tnan, had strength enough to elect 
a governor, whom they could force to 'pardon the convicted murderers^ 

Which, now, is to be considered the greatest political evil, our domestic slavery 

* See a pamphlet recently published, called "the Union," by a citizen of Virginia. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 51 

or their hireling slavery. That which has never occasioned a inob, ©r that which 
is ever doing so ; that which has, never destroyed a church or a convent, or that 
which luis repeatedly done so ; that which has never infringed upon established 
rights, or that which is eternally doing so ; that which has never required the in- 
terposition of federal authority to ensure tranquillity, or that which has ; that which 
has never required military force to organize its civil government, or that which 
has ; that which is supported by civil law and moral influence, or that which is 
maintained by physical force and monied influence ; that which is based upon the 
immutable laws of nature and of reason, or that which is founded upon selfish 
arrogance and delusive passion ? 

There can be no doubt as to which governments or which communities are the 
most degraded or corrupted, or the most enervated by their pohtical institutions, 
those of the North, or those of the Southern States. For it cannot be denied 
that when any branch of a government becomes so disorderly as to be quelled by 
a military force, so dubious in its formation as not to know its own constituent 
parts, so corrupt in its composition that its chief members are forced to resign on 
account of bargain or corruption, or else forced by a lawless mob to stay the ac- 
tion of the law in the execution of convicted felons ; that government is more 
degraded and corrupted than another which has never had such hurtful contin- 
gencies to arise during its whole political history. But such governments as the 
former are to be found in every direction at the North, while such as the latter 
characterize every shiveholding (State in the Union. And the same we have said 
of the governments applies with redoubled force to the communities of these re- 
spective sections. No more must be said then of the political evils of slavery, it 
is almost as absurd to speak of that as it is to speak of all men being born free 
and equal. 

We have, a few pages back, suggested that a separation of the South from the 
North would surely end the discussion of what is commonly called the " slavery 
question," in all our public councils, and thereby terminate the disgraceful and 
dangerous events which have been gradually crowding themselves upon us ever 
since the Constitution was adopted. Let us then, for a moment, suppose the 
Union was dissolved, leaving the manner in ivhich it should he dissolved to be a 
matter of future consideration. Many have asked what will the South do then ? 
What can the South do timi, which it cannot do now ? W^liy, let us see. 

It is every where known that this entire Republic of thirty States is, more or 
less, the ofl'spring of thirteen States, all of which were originally in their colonial 
state, slaveholding communities. At the time of the adoption of the Constitu- 
tion, some of these thirteen progenitors had abolished slavery within their limits. 
The opinions of society at that time, from causes which will hereafter appear, 
leaned to the belief that slave labour was destined with peculiar certainty, and at 
no very distant period to be aljolished throughout America. So powerful was the 
influence of this opinion, that in the framing of the Constitution, we see manifest 
indications of timidity, or at least a want of confidence on the part of Statesmen, 
when they approach the subject of slavery. Moreover, among the contracting 
parties, there were those whose interests and opinions agreed in condemning slave 
labour ; on the other hand, there were those whose interests and opinions did not 
agree in condemning slavery. What was' the consequence ? The subject was 
avoided as much as possible, every allusion to slavery was as obscure as could be; 
so much so, that in the whole Constitution the word slave is not to be found. A 
singular infatuation seems to have taken hold of those great men, when they so 
studiously avoided using a plain word whose meaning is unmistakeable, but must 
substitute for slaves, those obscure terms, " other persons," or "persons bound to 
labour," &c., none of which can be considered as adequate definitions of the term 
th«y are meant to replace. The matter then which was evidently the subject of 



52 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

conflicting opinions among the contracting parties, was thus left for posterity to 
decide upon. It is true some arrangements were agreed upon, and were called 
compromises, but the subject was left open to discussion. The questions involved 
in it were not permanently settled, it could not reasonably be expected that they 
could then have been settled, they never have heen settled, and if they ever are 
settled, they must be settled either now or at some future time. Then seeing as 
we do, that this matter could not be arranged when the Constitution v^-as framed, 
because there were two parties to the contract, whose views and interests rendered 
such a thing impossible And knowing that the very evil which our fathers wished 
to avoid by avoiding the subject, has now appeared in a iiionstrous form. Is there 
any doubt as to what the South should do, if it is in self-defence forced to sepa- 
rate from the North ? If the South is forced to dissolve the contract, because 
institutions essential to her very existence cannot safely exist under the contract, 
is it not the result of common sense to suppose that she would immediately erect 
her own governTuent, so framed and constituted, that those institutions which are 
essential to her existence can safely exist under it, and that the causes which dis- 
solved the old compact, could not exist under the new. The question then comes 
up, can the South accomplish this ? We answer, yes ; and by the same simple 
process, that a burnt child avoids the fire. After the division is effected, the 
slaveholding States would, without doubt, form a republic similar to the present, 
and the Constitution of that Republic would be essentially a copy of the Consti- 
tution of the present Republic. But there would be this difference among others. 
Where the Constitution now leaves the subject of slavery one of dispute and dis- 
cussion, there would undoubtedly be some clause in the Constitution of the new 
Republic which would set-that matter forever at rest. We cannot doubt there would 
be something in spirit and substance like the following introduced into that in- 
strument, viz : 

Whereas, It has been found by experience in the affairs of the late Republic 
of the United States, that it is inexpedient and dangerous to allow the discussion 
of such subjects as rest wholly on the prejudiced opinions of a small minority, 
who consider slavery wrong, and who have no connection and no legal right to 
interfere with the custom they undei'take to condemn, in the halls of a National 
Congress ; because of the inevitable tendency it creates to sectional animosities 
and Geographical parties. And, whereas, It is believed to be out of the province 
of governments to intermeddle with such deep-rooted customs of society, as the 
mode of worshipping, the mode of living, the mode of dressing, the mode of la- 
bouring, the mode of purchasing labour, the mode of commanding, the mode of 
obeying, or the mode of classifying the I'elations of society ; except in so much as 
may relate to a wholesome regulation of the same. 

And whereas, Slavery is, in all civilized communities, a usage of society which 
should be left to the opinion, interest, policy, and ec.onomy of the society in which 
it exists, to abolish or continue it ; and which has been a fundamental principle 
and a characteristic feature in the domestic relations of society in each and every 
State here represented, from the beginning of tlieir very existence. 

Therefore, All propositions, petitions, resolutions, bills, or any other measures 
relating to the subject of slavery in any of these States, or in any territory now 
belonging to, or hereafter to be acquired by these States, are pi'ohibited in the 
Congress of this Repubhc ; except in such cases as may require .the incidental 
advertance to the subject, or may relate to claims for indemnity for the loss of 
property, or otherwise acknowledging the right of property possessed by the 
master in the slave, and the consequent right of the master to carry his sla\e 
into any territory which, at the time, belongs to this Republic. 

Provided, Nothing herein prohibited shall be so construed as to prevent the ac- 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 53 

tion of any State, with regard to slavery, within its oivn limits and and among 
its own people. 

Now, what is to prevent the adoption of such a clause as this ? If every State 
is a slaveholding State, every State must agree to it, at least in its essence. It 
does not interfere with the prerogative of the States. It is not inconsistent with 
the Constitution of any of the slaveholding States. It does not perpetuate slavery 
any more than the present Constitution does. It does not prevent the abolition 
of slavery by the only proper authority, the sovereign people as represented in 
their State Government. But it does prevent the insuUing and obnoxious discus- 
sion of the subject in the Federal Government. It does obviate the dangers of 
sectional and geographical jealousies, and it does most effectually guard against 
any infringement on the rights of the States, the dignity of a Congress, and the 
stability of the new union of States. 

If this is done by the South theii^ will it not be something which the South 
cannot do now ? Would it not be something which our fathers could not do 
sixty years ago, because they could not reconcile conflicting opinions and inte- 
rests. And would it not be doing something, to do what they could not do ? 

This division of the States, if properly consummated, is, under the existing state 
of things, most earnestly to be desired. It would certainly be an advantage to 
the South. The great reason why this division should be accomplished as soon 
as possible, is. that unless some miraculous interposition of Providence creates a 
thorough revolution in the political affairs of this government, it must lead to a 
separation of the South from the North, or a total subjugation of the former to 
the latter, at some future time. Another reason is, the longer this crisis is de- 
layed the more cruel will be the contests of the occasion. Another is : It would 
be doing wrong to our children to leave them to perform a task which we our- 
selves can accomplish with half the ease. It would be disgraceful in us to en- 
tail a revolution u}X)n them, which will at least be doubtful in its results, whilst 
we, witfi good prospects of success, shrink from it because it is troublesome. The 
longer this crisis is delayed the greater will be the population of the North, in 
comparison with that of the South, and consequently the greater will be the po- 
litical as well as military strength of the North in comparison with those of the 
South. The longer it is delayed, the longer will the North grow rich off the 
slave labour of the South, and the longer will the South be the theatre of con- 
stant watchfulness and apprehension lest new insults be added to new injuries. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Romeo. — " Tlie world affords no law to make the rich ; 

Then be not poor, but break it, and take this." 
Apothecary. — " My poverty, but not my will, consents. 
JRomeo. — " I pay thy poverty, and not thy will. 



The economy oi slave labour in the Southern States is a matter which has long 
since been*determined by those competent of judging from experience. And the 
fact of its so long continuing in prosperity, notwithstanding the relentless en- v^ 
deavours that have been made to crush it, is no slight evidence that slave labour 
is politically economical. We say politically economical, but it must not be sup- 
posed that we do not also mean it is domestically and individually economical. 
For no enterprize which, by its own nature, proves unprofitable to the individuals 
concerned in it, can at the same time be profitable or advantageous to the com- 



54 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

munity at large ; neither can that enterprize which enriches the individuals con- 
cerned ia it, at the same time impoverish the community. Tlie wealth and pros- 
perity of a poHtical community is, after all, nothing- more than the aggregate 
wealth and prosperity of the individuals of the community. And when we speak 
of the political economy of slavery, we refer to in-actice only, no vague theories 
of utilitarianism, philanthropy or money circulation, enter into our ideas of econo- 
my, for none of them are necessarily involved in the detinition of the term. Great 
national wealth may exist without a correspondingly great amount of money ; 
therefore, it must not be expected when we assert how much wealth there is at 
the South, that we will sum it up in dollars and cents. Wealth ai]d money have 
very different means. IS or would it be correct to judge of a nation's wealth by 
what is seen in one or two cities. Single instances of large fortunes possessed by 
individuals, or a great amount of capital concentrated in a single city, afford no 
conclusive evidence of the general w-ealth of a nation. Therefore, in estimating 
the merits of slavery, as it concerns political economy, we must look to general 
practical results, and descend to particulars only with a view to illustrate or con- 
trast. • 

We have already seen, that in the year 1790, when the United States began 
to be settled and confirmed in its new form of government, the population in the 
Northern and in the Southern States were Jiearly the same, and their wealth and 
resoui'ces was also about equal. Since then, however, the North has obtained 
a decided superiority in some respects, and that superior degree of political influ- 
ence and aggregate wealth which may have accrued there from, has to no small 
exteAt given rise to the belief that slavery was a check on the progiess of the 
South. This opinion among the great mass of citizens, who have heretofore 
thought but little on the subject, may appear a plausible one, for to tlie superfi- 
cial observer the only CvSsential and striking difference between the South and the 
North, is that one is slaveholding and the other non-slaveholding, and in view of 
the great discount to which philanthropy has fallen in these late days, it is not 
difficult for people to be persuaded that any difference existing between the two 
sections, in any of their resources, is entirely owing to the difference of domestic 
institutions belonging to the two. Such a belief, however, involves a most egre- 
gious error. 

It is a palpable feature of man's nature that he must be made to feel the ef- 
fects of any cause before he can be brought to investigate the cause itself. The 
aid of medicine is not resorted to before the symptoms of disease admonish us ; 
neither can a remedy be applied before the evil is discovered. It is on account 
of this fixed principle in our nature, that monstrous political ciiors sometimes 
mislead a community for ages, for they are destined to remain uncorrected till 
sluggish man finds the burdens they in)pose absolutely insupportable. Such an 
error has been that of supposing the aiyparent superior advancement of the North is 
owing to its, so called, free labour being more economical than our slave labour. 
The time has cume, however, when men begin to suffer from the pernicious ef- 
fects of this error, so long indulged ; and they have accordingly begun to in- 
vestigate the causes. 

Why should it be said that the difference in the affairs of the North and South 
is to be attribted to their different systems of labouring? As far, as the wealth 
of the two is concerned, it may truly be said that convenience is the sole cause of 
the assertion, foi' truth and reason have no share in it. Every intelligent being 
must be aware that the wealth of different countries, and even different sections 
of the same country, arises from very different circumstances. That enterprize 
which would be profitable in one quarter, would not necessarily be so in all oth- 
ers. That system of labour which is cheapest in one quarter, is not necessarily 
so in all othei's. Because hireling labour is cheapest at the North, it does not 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 55 

follow that slave labour is not the cheapest at the South. In that country -where 
nature has been pleased to provide a fertile soil and a genial climate, where agri- 
culture is the most favoured and most profitable pursuit, it would be folly to urge 
that agriculture should be abandoned for the pursuit of commerce or manufac- 
tures because they outstrip agriculture in other countries ; and in the same way, 
in that country where nature has been sparing in her bounties, by leaving the 
soil barren and the climate harsh, but in which there are admirable facilities for »^ 
commerce and manufactures, it would be folly to urge that they should be aban- 
doned for agriculture, because agriculture outstrips them in other countries. In 
that country where nature breathes an atmostphere poisonous to one race, but not 
so to another, it would "be folly to argue that the race which endures the climate 
without injury, should not be made to gather the ricli harvests which no other 
hands could gather, but which are necessary for both races in common ; and like- 
wise, in that country where the atmostphere bears no poison on its breath, wher6 
every race can bear exposure with equal chances, because one race in this climate 
reduces the wages of labour to a lower standard, (absolutely considered,) than 
another race in another climate is able to, it would be folly to contend that the 
labour which is cheapest in the first climate, must, if transported to that other 
climate, necessarily be the cheapest there also; on the contrary, the very poison 
which pervades that other climate renders such labour the most costly that could 
be had, in as much as the wages of labour would then he death. It may, there- 
fore, be premised that, in any country, that system of labour is cheapest, which 
all things being considered, promotes best the general wealth and prosperity ; 
without any regard being necessarily had to the number of dollars and cents 
bestowed in wages. 

It is an invariable rule, where great wealth has been accumulated from com- 
merce and manufactures, that profits in these departments will regulate profits in ' 
agriculture. For " as the price of those commodities, raised at the least expense, 
will regulate, in ordinary circumstances, the price of others, in the same depart- 
ment of production, so will profits follow the same general law, as regards differ- 
ent employments. Those branches of business that afford the greatest advanta- 
ges to producers, can be carried on with lower profits, than those in which equal 
facilities are not to be had." In conformity with this principle, it is not only true, 
what we have just stated with regard to profits in commerce and manufactures, ^ 
but it is equally true that in those countries where superior facilities exist of pro- 
duction from the soil, profits in all departments will generally be regulated by 
those in agriculture. 

Every body knows how splendidly the manufactures and commerce of the North 
have been protected and fostered by the Federal Government, and as the natural 
consequence, what great wealth has been accumulated there from these sources. 
Now, notwithstanding the material upon which the capital in these departments 
has been called to operate, is the produce of Southern soil, this circumstance does 
not alter the principle, that where great wealth has been accumulated from com- 
merce and manufactures, profits in these departments will regulate profits in ag- 
riculture. It is owing then to these circumstances, and these alone, that the capi- i^ 
talists of the North have been able to exert such a commanding influence over 
.the profits of agriculture at the South. The consideration of labour does not en- 
ter into the case any more than all other items of economy, but as to the social 
relation which the labourer bears to the capitalist, it is absolutely foreign to the 
subject. Who can gainsay it? If the slaves in our cotton fields were hirehngs 
instead of domestics, who will show that the commerce and manufactures of the ,■ 
North would ever have been one jot the less protected by government for that ; 
or who can prove that an established principle would be completely overthrown 
on that account ? So far from citing the commercial and manufacturing pros- 



56 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

perity of the North as an evidence of the impoverishing effects of slavery at the 
South, it would be a hundred fold nearer the truth to point to tlie toiling slave as 
he gathers in the rich harvest of the South, and give him the credit of enriching 
the nabobs of the philanthropic North. 

As jiroof that slavery cannot be such a draw back to the South as people would 
have us believe, we have merely to take up the financial and commercial history 
of the country ; on their pages are to be found wlnit the South tvas when it had 
slavery ivithout a union with the North, aud what the South is when it has slavery 
with a union with the North. 

Let us now see how slave labour elTects the increase of wealth so essential to 
the increase of population. Is it economical or is it extravagant, as circumstances 
control it in the Southern States ? And are the health and enjoyments of our 
slaves equal or superior to those of other labourers m other countries? It is cer- 
tain, that in every civilized country, a great proportion of the inhabitants must 
subsist by their daily labour. In thickly populated districts, in large towns and 
cities this proportion increases much more rapidly than capital can be accumula- 
ted ; and as the proportion of capital to labour becomes smaller and smaller, the 
wages of labour must also become less and less till it is reduced to the lowest 
possible pitch. This principle applies, however, only in those communities where 
labour is hired ; it cannot hold where labour is itself an ingredient of the capi- 
tal. As a matter of course, in a community where labour is hired, when employ- 
ment is scarce in proportion to the demand for it, those dispensing the favour of 
giving employment will take advantage of the great demand ; and on the other 
hand, those in search of employment must necessarily yield to the pressure com- 
ing from the scarcity of it. These latter are ultimately forced to receive the 
smallest amount of wages that can sustain life. The constant tendency is to a 
reduction of wages without a corresponding reduction of labour. The war be- 
tween ca})ital and labour has for its natural object an equilibrium, a stable equili- 
brium between these opposing powers, but where one power has become so much 
greater than the other, no equilibrium can be established between them with- 
out the aid of an auxiliarj' power on the part of the weaker ; this auxiliary 
power in the case of labour, is that law of nature which requires a certain 
amount of food to sustain life in the labourer. When, therefore, in a commu- 
nity where this war is raging, the triumphant party, which is always capital, 
has reduced its opponent to this extiemity, the law of nature steps in, and 
the equilibrium is established, but not till then. Such is the state of things 
inevitable at the North, impossible at the South. Here, the very reverse is the 
case. If there is one item in the whole economy of the Southern States which 
is more invariable and unchangeable than any other, it is the wages of labour, 
which is but another term for the support of our slaves. Crops may vary. 
Prices may vary. Profits may vary. The wages of labour are still the same. 
Not because it is reduced to that low standard beyond which it cannot go, 
but because labour is at peace with capital, labour is capital, and therefore 
cannot possibh/ be depreciated without a corresponding depreciation of capital. 

Moreover, there is no political or connnercial revolution which does not di- 
rectly effect the persons and earnings of the, so called, free labourer. If the 
employer finds it expedient to suspend his business, or to change his residence, 
his hirelings are immediately dismissed, and it is their own good luck if they 
soon find employment again. 

In the slaveholding States a very' different picture is presented. They are 
all essentially agricultural, their population is therefore not dense. So far 
from employment being in demand, it is the labourer who is in demand. And 
instead of the wages of labour being reduced to the lowest standard, it is 
rather raised to the highest. The slave feels none of the effects of financial 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 5Y 

pressure, commercial panics or any of those fluctuations which will sometimes 
overtake us. He is, at all times, provided with every necessary of life, and 
not unfrequently with many of its luxuries. If the master finds it expedient 
to suspend his business or change his residence he is bound, by his own inte- 
rests, to find a new owner for his slave, or else to carry his slave away with 
him ; but in no case is the negro left, as the dismissed hireling is, to seek a 
new employer without having the means of subsistence in the meantime. The 
labour to which the slave is subjected is in no respect calculated to impair the 
physical or mental condition of the individual ; his work is comparatively 
light and easy to be performed. And notwithstanding all the invective that 
has been heaped upon the cruel slave owner, there is no master so exacting 
as want, no code of discipline so cruelly relentless as that of necessity. The 
slave has no care for to-morrow, he never knows the misery experienced by an -^ 
ejected hireling. What matters it to him how the necessaries of life are sell- 
ing, the fluctuations in the market do not reach him, he has a never-failing 
granary in his master's barn, a certain banker in his master's purse. His con- 
dition is good, his tenure certain. He enjoys this blessing, which no hireling 
can boast, he knows that though he may never become the possessor of wealth, 
neither he nor his children can ever want the necessaries of life ; though he 
may never sway men's minds in the political arena, he nor his off*spring will 
never be in a worse condition than at present, notwithstanding Ids comforts 
are to he envied hy perha'ps half the human family. The labourer is thus am- 
ply and certainly rewarded for his toil, and is the better enabled to preserve 
his energies. 

In an agricultural State, capital is more rapidly accumulated when the pro- 
fits come directly into the hands o( resident oivners of large tracts of land, than 
when they go to non-resident owners, or are cut up into small parcels for pro- 
prietors of limited extent. This principle operates eff'ectuall}' in the Southern 
States, the chief productions of which are cotton, rice, tobacco and sugar, and 
all of which are cultivated by slaves under the immediate supervision of resi- 
dent owners. It has been truly observed* that " capital is accumulated on the 
soil more abundantly and rapidly when large money returns fall into the hands 
of cultivators who are owners, than when they are divided with landlords. It 
would, of course, be the same, should both spend alike, but the circumstance 
of ownership makes all the difference possible in the results. The saving from v^ 
profit to add to capital, is a principle that is never weakened when the security 
of property is complete, and when the increased value given to capital, in 
whatever form that value may exist, continues with the improver instead of 
passing into the hands of others." Now, one of the leading peculiarities of 
Southern agriculture, is, that the produce of the land goes directly into the 
possession of the owner who is the cultivator. There are no landlords, ten- 
ants, leased lands, &c., in the South. The cultivator is almost invariably the ^ 
owner ; and the owner seldom fails to save from his profits to add to his capi- 
tal. The chief produce of the soil is an article raised to supply the markets 
of the world, its price, though liable to fluctuate is always remunerating, and 
in proportion to the costs of production, is higher than that of most staples ; 
and in addition to all this we have a monopoly of the trade. 

There is one other consideration which must not be overlooked. When the 
employer pays the free labourer his wages, he takes just so much from the 
profits to pass entirely out of his hands, for the wages of the hireling yield no 
return to the capital of the emploj'er, excepting, of course, the labour which 
is derived ; they go to promote the comfort of himself and his fsimily, and 

*See So. Rev., 1828. 



58 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

thereby, the increase of his family, but this increase affords no increase to the 
capital of the employer. But when the master supports the slave, he takes 
just so much from the profits to add to the capital, and not to pass out of his 
hands, for the support of the slave yields a considerable return to the master's 
capital, besides the labour which is derived; this support goes to promote the 
comfort of the slave and those of his family, and thereby the increase of the 
latter, which is doubly promoted by the absence of all cares for providiiig, but 
this increase affords a corresponding increase to the capital of the master; so 
that it may be said not one cent of the costs of labour in our system passes 
from the hands of the proprietor, whilst the labourer is nevertheless amply re- 
compensed. 

After all that has been said about the profitableness and productiveness of 
Northern manufactories, we believe there is no branch of industry which when 
properly considered, affords a greater natural increase of capital than the ag- 
riculture of the slaveholding States. We speak, of course, with reference to 
entire results, and not individual cases. 

We have seen various estimates of the profits of slave labour, and will take 
this occasion to insert a few, which we believe to be as correct as estimates 
generally are. 

In 1848, the following estimate was made of the capital invested in the 
culture of cotton, and the nett proceeds.* All the slaves in the cotton States 
who were engaged in the culture of rice, sugar, grain or any other staple than 
cotton, being excluded, it was believed that the number of slaves engaged in 
cultivating cotton was about 1,000,000. Of these, about 700,000 were work- 
ers. The following then was the table of items which go to make up the en- 
tire capital devoted to the cotton culture. 

1. 1,000,000 slaves, .... 

2. Land in cotton, 4,000,000"acres, - 

3. Land in provisions, 6,000,000 acres, 

4. Land in timber and pasture, 10,000,000 acres, " 

5. Mules and horses, 300,000, 

6. Hogs and sheep, 4,200,000, , 

7. Cattle, 200,000, .... 

8. Ploughs, 400,000, .... 

9. Other implements, tools, &c., &c.. 



The interest of 050,600,000 dollars at 7 per cent, is 
Let us see how near the annual profits come to this. 
Estimating the crop at 2,000,000 bales, of 400 pounds 
each, we would have, at 10 cents per pound, 

1. Cotton crop 800,000,000 lbs. 10 cts. $80,000,000 

•|-2. The natural increase of slaves at 3 per cent., 
the usual average increase, would be, valu- 
ing them as above, at $500 each, - - - $15,000,000 



at $500 


$500,000,000 


" 10 


40,000,000 


" 10 


00,000,000 


2 


20,000,000 


" 80 


24,000,000 


1 


4,200,000 


5 


1,000,000 


2 


800,000 


(( 


600,000 




$650,600,000 


it. is 


145,542,000 



Making the gross proceeds amount to - - - - $95,000,000 



* In So. Rev., see Com. Rev. 

f This item was not included in the original estimate, but we thiiik it is too important to 
be omitted. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL UEMEDY. 59 

From which must be deducted, for overseer's wa- 
ges, physicians, taxes, freight on cotton, the 
support of children and old negroes who do 
not work, about $40 per hand, which is a 
ver}' liberal allowance, and we have to de- 
duct for expenses, 40,000,000 



Leaving a nett profit of 155,000,000 

Nearly 8 1-2 per cent, on the capital invested. 

This estimate is made upon cotton at 10 cents, when it falls below that, the 
profits diminish rapidly, for the expenses continue tlie same, though prices di- 
minish. And in like manner, when the price rises above 10 cts., the profits in- 
crease vastly, because the expenses remain stationary always. 

" When we consider that there is an improvement in the annual value of 
the negroes upon every well regulated cotton farm, and that the great majo- 
rity of planters raise, or support their families from what may be called the 
ofFal of a farm, that is, from what is raised on it and is scarcely missed or cal- 
culated ill its products, which is alwaj'S the case when the owner lives on it, 
then we are induced to believe there is no investment known of capital as 
large as 050,000,000 dollars equal in value to that in cotton." 

Another estimate has been made of the profits of slave labour in Louisiana 
alone : " The pi-oduce of Louisiana, the average product for five years, from 
1840 to 1845 inclusive, was, 

1. 117,000 hhd's. sugar, .... at $60 $7,020,000 

2. 5,850,000 gallons molasses. ... "20 cts. 1,170,000 

3. 350,000 bales cotton, .... " $30 10,500,000 



Making the gross proceeds amount to .... $18,690,000 

At present the sugar crop is greatly larger, and the cotton smaller than they 
are here set down, though the proceeds of the crops in money are about the 
same. The annual expediture for machinery, engines, kettles, mules, horses, 
and oxen, is estimated by the chamber of commerce at $870,000 ; but, place 
it at a million, and then Louisiana draws an annual income from her slave 
labour of $17,090,000. Supposing the slave population of Louisiana to have 
been 200,000 during the five years from 1840 to 1845 inclusive, as the cen- 
sus in 1840 gave to her 168,452, and that statement makes the j^^od'^fctlon of 
each slave in the State, man, woman and child amount to the sum of $88 45." 

So much for estimates, now for facts. If hired labour was invariably cheap- 
er than slave labour, where could we find the I'act illustrated better than on 
the British West India Islands. There, both slave labour and "free' labour i^ 
have been tried, in the savie jyursuits and by the same jkojjI'',. These two cir- 
cumstances enable us to make the closest possible comparison, for all the cir- 
cumstances of soil, climate, pursuits, production, race, and civilization remain 
the same, whilst one single social relation only has been changed. 

In the "free labour'^ colonies of Great Britain, it cost, in 1847, for the j)ro- 
duction of every ton of sugar £20. While in slave countries it cost but £12, 
a little over half as much. 

The following statistics show the depreciation in value of individual estates, 
and the consequent diminution of national weatlh, which followed the eman- 
cipation of the West India slaves. We give but a \\\v instances. *In an ar- 
ticle on the "West India Islands," the editor of the Commercial Review, 

* See De Bow's Commercial Review of 1848. 



60 THE disunionist; or, 

quotes: "In 1838, the value of the estates, owing to the want of labour, had 
fallen from one-third to a half. The following is the account of some of the 
estates. 

Price in 1838. Former Price. 

Anna Catherina estate, - - £30,000 £50,000 

Providence estate, - - - 38,000 80,000 

Thomas estate, - - - 20,000 40,000 

In 1840, the depreciation became greater. 

Rome and Houston estate, - - 40,000 100,000 

Success estate, . - - - 30,000 55,000 

Kitty estate, .... 26,000 60,000 

William estate, .... 18,000 . 40,000 

In, and after, 1844, the depreciation was still greater. 

Groenveldt estate, - - - £10,000 £35,000 

Baillies's Hope estate, - - - 7,000 50,000 

Haarlem estate, - - - 3,500 50,000 

Free labour is, on these Islands, wholesale economy indeed, and slave labour, of 
course, the most headlong extravagance. In this short table, we see facts startling 
enough to convince the veriest hooby in the land, which is the most economical 
labour, that of the slave, which enhances an estate to as much as 50,000 pounds, 
\ or that of the "free man," which depreciates it to 3,500, ^:)rec/sf/?/ the interest of 
the former for one year at seven p°r cent. Which was the most productive of 
wealth and prosperity to the nation in this case, the slave, whose labour i« one 
year would produce a net profit, amounting to more than the whole capital upon 
which the " free man" operates, or the free negro, whose brutal laziness depreci- 
ates capital from 50,000 to 3,500 in a few short years. 

It has been argued against agriculture that there is more waste, and a greater 
surplus over and above the necessary expenses of production, in proportion to the 
quantity produced, in agriculture than in manufactures. But we are credibly in- 
formed, and it has more than once been demonstrated that such is by no means 
the case. It has also been maintained, that commodities raised from the soil are 
not capable of regular increase from improved modes of cultivation, in the same 
degree as articles produced by machinery. But it has been proved, at least with 
regard to America* " that there are no just grounds for the conclusion, that im- 
provements in cultivation are necessarily partial, and not progressive like manu- 
factures, and that a physical law bounds human skill and invention more in that 
art, which provides us food (and raw material) than in the others that minister 
^ to our necessary wants. Facility of production on the land, like facility of pro- 
4 duction in manufactures, is dependent on those arrangements which best stimu- 
late, in all departments of industry, the invention and efforts of producers, and 
on those alone. The price, generally, of the products of the soil, like the price of 
articles produced by machinery, will be governed, in the absence of all unnatural 
excitements, by the expense of raising that 2:>ortion which is produced at the least 
cost." 

In view then of all we have said, we have no reason to doubt that the pecu- 
0^ liar productiveness of agriculture at the South, and the necessary demand for the 
products, owing to their cheapness and superior quality, and a partial monopoly, 
are the chief reasons why slave labour, though the mostly in other countries, is 
the cheapest in the Southern States. But the chiefest reason remains to be told. 
It is because no other can be had. Free labor has been tried, and failed.f The 

* In the Southern Quarterly Review of 1828. 

•j- In the case of the Colony of Georgia. See page 70. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 61 

experiment needs no repetition. Our fathers left us these slaves to cultivate our 
lands : nature smiles ou our every etfort, and returns an abundant harvest ; our 
climate forbids that any other race shall cultivate our fields ; our independence 
demands that we should retain our slaves, and be assured, you who doubt it, our 
sharpened swords will leap from their scabbards to defend that. 

We need scarcely stop to explain why no other than slave labour can be had 
at the South. Every body who has ever passed a summer in any planting dis- 
trict of the South, already understands it ; but for the benefit of those who may 
never have had that experience, we will insert the evidence of authentic docu- 
ments. 

In most highly cultivated districts in the southern country, white men are inva- 
riably the victims of a very dangerous fever, ai'ising from malaria, but negroes al- 
most universally escape. We have been informed by medical gentlemen, residing 
in such districts, that when the rare case does occur of a negro takino- fever from 
this malaria, it is almost always of an intermittent nature, and can be more easily 
subdued. But in the generality of cases where the patient is white, the fever 
becomes remittent, and not unfrequently a congestion of the brain, or some other 
vital part terminates the case. 

The Census of Charleston, S. C, taken in 1849, affords the very best informa- 
tion on this subject that is to be had, it is not, however, the best that could be 
desired, for it only has to do with the city, wheieasour inquiries have a more par- 
ticular relation to the planting districts of the country. We can, at any rate, 
gather enough from that source, to give an idea how much more fatal the climate 
of the South is to the white man than to the negro. 

From the year 1822 to 1848 inclusive, the number of deaths in the city of 
Chadeiiton from fevers, which are the media through which the malaria acts, 
were as follows :* 



1. Billions Fever, . . . . 

2. Congestive " - - - - 

3. Country " - . . . 

4. Intermittent " - - - - 

5. Remittent " - - . - 

6. Yellow « - - . . 

1529 217 

In looking at this table, the following facts must be remembered : 

The white population was during this whole period, on an average, about 4,000 
less than the negro population.! 

The whites are not half as much exposed to the injurious effects of the climate 
as the negroes are. 

The whites resort to the city for health, whereas the negro enjoys far better 
health in the country than he does in the city. 

Taking every thing then into consideration, we have every reason to believe 
that the difference between the white and the negro mortality, from the effects of 
climate, as expressed in these numbers, is but half what it would be if similar 
statistics could be collected of the South at large. Instead therefore of putting 
down 217 negro deaths to 1,529 white deaths, or, for the sake of brevity, 2 to 
15, from the effects of climate throughout the entire planting region of the 

* See tables " A" and "B," Census of Charleston for 1849. 
f In the terra " negro," we inclutle all having any negro blood. 



Whites. 


Negroes. 


309 


144 


12 


8 


216 


37 


44 


11 


14 


3 


934 


14 



62 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

South ■ we will say that there are fifleen whites to one negro, who dies from the 
effects of the climate. Tiut, in addition to this, it must be observed, that these 
fevers are with more difficulty subdued in the white than in the negro race. 
"Where the white man will be incajiacitated for a whole year, and his constitution 
completely ruined, the negro will take a few doses of medicine and be as well as 
ever. 

During this period of 26 years, the average annual proportion of deaths to 
the population was, 

Among the whites, 2.5 to every 100. 
" negroes, 2.4 to every 100. 

But the averange annual deaths from fevers, (not including yellow fever,) was, 
■ Among the whites, 7.85 per cent of all deaths. 
" negroes, 3 95 " " " 

Of all the deaths among the whites, there were 685 over 70 years of age, and 
3 over 100. 

Of all the deaths among the negroes, there were 1,264 over 70 years of age, 
and 79 over 100. 

The negroes then, not only escape in a great measure the diseases indigenous to . 
our climate, but they live to a greater age than the whites. We have no doubt if a 
correct comparison could be instituted, it would be found that that the negroes, 
yes, the slaves of the Southern States, are the healthiest and the longest lived 
people of any who live in corresponding latitudes in the world, and may be, of 
any who live in any latitude in the world. 

But this truth is not confined to Charleston, nor to South-Carolina. Mary- 
land, the most northern of the slaveholding States, vouches for it with equal 
force. In a pamphlet pubhshed in 1827,* the mortality of ]3altimoro for the 
years 1823-'4 and '5, was given as follows : among the whites, one in every for- 
ty-four ; among the slaves, one in every seventy -seven. 

Even when compared with the negro population of the free States, Ave find our 
slaves vastly more healthy. The average mortality in Philadelphia, among the 
negroes, for the ten years ending Avith 1830, was one in twenty-six, while in 
Charleston, for tlie eight years ending with 1837, during three of which either 
yellow fever or cholera prevailed, it was one m forty-four. But even Avith yellow 
fever, cholera, climate and slavery all combined, how does the mortality of the 
negroes in Boston, who have nothing but liberty to contend Avith, compare with 
those of Charleston and other southern cities. It is about three hundred per 
cent greater. Where in Boston the average deaths among negroes is 1 in 15, in 
Charleston it is but 1 in 44. These truths speak for themselves, Ave leave them 
with the reader. 

There is one consideration to Avhich Ave are naturally drawn by the foregoing 
remarks. It is this. Whatever else may be dispensed with by the labourer, life 
and health are of the first importance, they are absolutely indisjyensablc . It is, 
therefore, a primary object in the economy of labour to promote life and health 
to the greatest possible extent. It Avould then be correct to say, that, that sys- 
tem of labour, and those departments of industry, which, while they best pro- 
mote the wealth and pros])evity of a nation, detract nothing from the health &r\^ 
hfe of the labourer, are cheaper than that system and those pursuits which pro- 
mote the national Avealth at the expense of those who labour. The economy 
which this principle involves, is what we will term the economy of life. 

In every enterprise, those who have the direction of it, make it their business 
to economize in the lives of those Avhose efforts are required to promote it. The 
prudent general Avill plan his campaign, and conduct the affairs of his army ia 

* By Dr. Niles, then of New- York. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY, 63 

such a way as to injure the enemy as much as possible, while he economizes to 
the greatest possible extent the lives of the soldiers under him. He that can gain 
a victory with the loss of but ten men, is, by just so much, a greater captain than 
he who, all other things bemg the same, gains the victory, but looses a thoiisand 
men. So, he is the greatest statesman who provides such laws and combines such 
circumstances, as will ensure the successful cultivation of the rich lands of his 
state with the least loss of human life, all other things being the same. If, there- 
fore, it can be shown that the laws of our fathers, which regulate and perpetuate 
slavery, serve better than any other laws could, to promote the wealth and pros- 
perity of our State, through the successful cultivation they insure, it follows that 
their councils were the best, and their economy the soundest we could desire. 
But we have just seen the most unmistakable evidence, that the negro race can cul- 
tivate our lields without the most trifling injury from any cause, while the white 
race, should they attempt to do the same, would be visited with a fearful pesti- 
lence, and, in a short time, their fields would be deserted, and their towns de- 
populated. Which then is the wisest and most economical measure, our slave 
laws, or those which northern philanthropists desire should replace them? 

The fact we have cited, of the health and longevity of the negro race in our 
Southern States, addresses itself not only to the economist, but to the philanthro- 
pist, aye and the abolitionist himself, if he is not totally deranged by the frenzy 
of fanaticism. The negro population of Charleston, and we have no doubt the 
same may be said of any southern city, though we do not know it as a fact, 
shows " not only a lower ratio of mortally than any labouring/ class of any coun- 
try, but a lower mortally than the aggregate po2mlation (including nobility and 
all,) of any country in Europe, except England, with which it is about at par, and 
would surpass even England, were the slaves taken separate from the free co- 
lored. The mortality of the aggregate colored population of Charleston now, is 
less than that of the aggregate of any toion in Europe."* 

" So little are they (the negroes) atiected by that fell destroyer of the white 
race, malaria, which kills more than war and famine, that they suffer in the 
Southern States more from diseases of winter than those of summer. They are, 
I am informed, exempt from the violent congestive fevers of our interior districts, 
and other violent forms of marsh (or country) fever ; and so exempt are they 
from yellow fever, that I am now attending my first case of this disease in a 
full blooded negro. In fact, it would seem that the negro blood is an antidote 
against yellow fever, for the smallest admixture of it with the white will protect 
against this disease, even though the subject come from a healthy northern lati- 
tude, in the midst of an epidemic." 

The experience of every people shows that agriculture is the most healthy 
avocation, that is, those who occupy themselves in this department of industry 
enjoy more vigorous health and live to a greater average age, than those who are 
devoted to other pursuits. Besides that, in an agricultural country there are but 
few large cities, they being adverse to the genius of this pursuit. The popula- 
tion is spread over a large territory, with here and there a small town. Statistics 
have always shown, that in a large cities there is a much greater degree of mor- 
tality in proportion to population, and which we term a waste of Imman life, 
than is to be found in small towns and agricultural districts. 

Now the South is an agricultural country, it has few large cities, and therefore 
is in a great measure exempt from that waste of human life which is peculiar to 
large cities. But if there is any one condition which is absolutely necessary in 
order that the South should be agricultural, and by that means exempt from this 
waste of human life, it may with truth be said, that it is to that one condition 

* See an article in the Com. Review, called " Statistics of Southern slave population." 



64 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

this saving of human hfe is to be attributed. And when that condition is the 
only condition ivhich can possibly serve this end, it is eminently true to say, that 
this saving of life is to be attributed solely and wholly to that one condition. 
Such a condition, is that which make the negro the white man's slave. Who 
then will question the economy of slavery at the South ? Look at the city of 
New- York, it is so much boasted of for its wealth and prosperity. Compare the 
expenditure of human life there, with that of any planting district of the same 
population in the world. 

In the last twenty years the population of New-York has nearly doul^led, but 
its mortaUty has nearly trebled* Can this be said of any southern community ? 

If it is still maintained that slave labour is not the cheapest we could have, why 
then we give up the field, we have nothing more to say ; but we have this con- 
solation, that if our slaves cost us so dearly, what is loss to us is gain to thera. 
By as much as they cost us too much, by so much are they better otF. What is 
lost to the wealth of the nation is gained by the humanity of it. If we are 
cheated, it is with our eyes open, and no thanks to the North that we are not 
worse off. 

A consideration which should not be overlooked, and which is intimately con- 
nected with the economy of slavery, is the position in our States occupied by free 
negroes and mulatoes. At the North this class of people is a burden on the com- 
munity, at the South, under existing laws, they are in no respect a disadvantage. 
It has been very justly remarked of these people, in the Southern Review of 
1828, that they are "in a much better condition, and much less troublesome to 
society, in the slaveholdng, and especially in the planting, than in the non-slave- 
holding States. In the first place, wages are higher, and the means of subsist- 
ance more easily attainable. In the next place, the climate is more congenial to 
them ; and, lastly and principally, tJie law coincides with public opinion in as- 
signing to them an inferior and servile rank. They are accustomed to their sta- 
tion in society, know they cannot better it, and are reconciled to it. In the States 
where the laws put them on an equal footing with the white population — but the 
opinions, or what they may justly consider the prejudices of the whiC6 portion of 
society, present an insuperable bar to their taking that station — their feelings are 
those of men who have been tantalized and deluded. They are thus rendered 
more discontented and disorderly, more idle, dissolute and vicious, than the cor- 
responding class of persons amongst us. This is notoriously the case Avith respect 
to the colored population of Philadelphia. 

It is not so much inferiority of raiik that excites a feeling of contempt on one 
side, or of degradation on the other. A private soldier may be perfectly respec- 
table in the station which the laws assign him, though his rank be the very low- 
est, and so may the peasant in Germany. To be degraded by opinion, is a 
thousand fold worse to the feelings of the individual, than to be degraded by the 
laws. To be despised by those with whom we conceive ourselves entitled to stand 
on a footing of equality, constitutes the very bitterness of degradation. Ac- 
cordingly, we believe, that the free coloured persons of the South, are less con- 
temned and more respectable than those of the North." 

We must now conclude this chapter. We have seen a few of the advantages 
of our system of labour ; we have conti-asted some of our aftairs with those of 
Northern and European States, without becoming envious of either. But we 
would detain the reader one moment more. Let him contrast the happy race 
of slaves he every day sees around him, wiih those poor creatures in European 
mines who are thus touchingly desci'ibed by an American orator^" 

* See ' the North antl the South," by Fisher. 

f The late Hon. Hugh S. Legare, of South-jfearolina. See Legarea Works, page 320. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 65 

" A race amonff no inconsiderable portion of whom famine and pestilence may 
be sSd to dwell c^ntinuallv-many of whom are without morals, without educa- 
^onwithoura country, without a God! and may be said to know society only 
bv the tm-ors of its pc'nal code, and t.. live in perpetual war with it. Poor bond- 
men 'mocked with Jhe name of liberty, that they may be sometimes tempted to 
break theh- chains, in order that, after a few days of starvation in idleness or dis- 
Xation they ma; be driven back to their prison house, to take them up agam, 
Eve and more galling than before : severed, as it has been touchingly ex- 
nS f^m natufe, from the common air and the light of the sun; knowing 
Zyt hearsay that the fields are green, that the birds sing, and that there is a 
perfume in flowers." 



CHAPTER IX. 

" Look forward what's to come, and back what's past ; 
Thy life will be with praise and prudence graced ; 
What loss or gain may follow, thou mayst guess ; 
Thou then wilt be secure of the success." 

This chapter will be devoted to the subject of cotton and the cotton trade. 
The culture of cotton is intimately connected with the economy of slave abour 
in the Southern States, and in some of them it is a prominent feature in the po- 
Uticsof the State. A^d as this department of industry mi. wholly and solely 
Tdave labour, we have thought it expedient to add to the preceding chapter on 
tLeconly of this kind of labour, a short chapter on the subject of Cotton, 
Ikh vvS it is so intimately connected, and which has such a pecuhar relation 
to the domestic aflaurs of the Southern States. -n- fi loot 

In Eno-land, France, and other European States, there has been within the last 
few generatioi s a m^st astonishing advance in arts ot every kind; labour and 
capital has increased apace, and so steadily have these causes been operating, 
th now acknowledged these States can with but a moiety of their abour 

andcai ta'sup.ly their respective wants; it follows then that they must look 
abroad f^r employment for the remainder of their capital and labour For this 
pu pose they look in those directions where their wishes are most certainly to be 
S ^tmed-they invest their capital where profits are greatest-they expend their 
Cm- where wages are highist. But where must the people of Europe look 
wfth uch objectsi to the iceburgs of the polar regions or to the rich ^^ leys of 
the tropics • to the densely populated countries of the old world, or to the newly ■ 
settleZo^^^^^^^ And what will be exchanged between these coun- 

trie but their respective productions ? Cotton, Tobacco, Sugar, Rice and Cofifee, 
l; five a, tides wdiich, experience every day shows, render the -ore nor W^ 
countries of the civilized world dependant, in a great, degree, upon the prospenty 
of the more southern countries, for a corresponding increase of commerce, manu- 
factures, navig-ation, wealth and power. , i • i ,.„^ 

In the Southern States of this Union, cotton is the staple which serves pre- 
eminently this part. It is an article which, whether on account of its giving em- 
pWn^en to m Uions in its culture-to thousands upon thousands in its transpor- 
E and shipment-to millions more in its manufactui^e, and as many more in 
ts cons mption; or, on account of its being the basis of the most friend y and 
advirgeL commercial and po intercourse, between us and the leading 

5 



66 • THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

nations of the earth ; whether the crops are short, or the prices low, is like the 
widows cruse of oil, it never fails. It never fails in its kind offices to the mil- 
lions of poor people who are connected with it, from the sowing of the seed, to 
the wearing of the garment of which it is made. To be sure there are oscilations 
in the market, daily fluctuations in the price, but the cry is still " they come." 

No nation for such a series of years, with short crops and large crops, with 
high prices and low, and so much in its infancy as this, has ever advanced so 
steadily and so rapidly in its powers, both of production and consuni])tion as the 
United States. For the last twenty years, the average annual increase in the 
production of cotton has been about 70,000 bales, and the average increase in 
consumption about 11,000 bales ; but, during the last five years, the increase in 
production has averaged 80,000 bales per annum, and in consumption 15,000. 
Last year, France and the North of Europe consumed about 750,000 bales of the 
American staple, and this consumption increases about 100,000 bales every year. 
Great Britain consumed about 1,125,000 bales, and the United States about 
545,000. The supply and consumption of the American stajiles in these coun- 
tries, is always, at whatever price, certain to equal these amounts, and if no un- 
natural cause prevents, will annually increase at the rate of about three •per cent ; 
but this can not be said of the stajiles of any other country. 

The supply from India is almost entirely de])endant on the prices. The ave- 
rage supply received in Great Britain for the last seven years, has been about 
208,000 bales per annum, and there is no regular increase. 

The supply from Egypt, Brazil, and the West Indies, all put together, seldom 
reach 220,000 bales. It does not increase, but depends very much on prices. 

So far from there being any increase in the receipts of cotton, in England, or 
on the Continent, there has been in late years a decided falling ofi". In Great 
Britain, she average annual imports from all other places, except the United 
States^ for the last five years, have been 7,338 bales less than those of the five 
years ending with 1844. Whilst British imports from the United States have 
increased during the last five years at the average rate of 77,000 bales per an- 
num, they have decreased at the rate of 54,000 from the East Indies. 

In the infancy of British cotton manufacture, their chief supply came from the 
Mediterranean, especially from Smyrna and Malta. Now, neither of those places 
send a bag to England. In 1786, 15,000,000 pounds were exported from the 
West Indies to England. In 1848, only 1,300 bales, or about 4,500,000 pounds, 
less than a third. Since 1830, the exports of cotton from Brazil have fallen off 
one half In 1845, over 80,000 bales of Egyptian cotton was imported into 
Great Britain, but for the last two or three years the imports have not reached 
30,000 bales. In 1821, the imports of Hindostan cotton amounted to 274,000 
bales, now it scarcely reaches 200,000. Depreciation in price is the reason of 
this great falling ofi" in these countries. In some of them it is said the prices 
have fallen 40 per cent since 1839.* Such a depreciation, when it passes a cer- 
tain point, must direct labour and capital into other channels, especially in those 
countries where a considerable portion of the profits are consumed in transporta- 
tion. In the cotton States of America, however, there are greater facilities for 
transportation than most portions of the globe, hence there is no great proportion 
of the profits consumed in that way. The price of the raw material does not ef- 
fect the consumption in the Northern States to any sensible extent. They manu- 
facture and we help them to consume. The more they pay for the raw material, 
the more they may demand for the cloth, but the greater is our ability and our 
willingness to purchase at corresponding high prices. Besides, not only in Ame- 
rica, but in Europe, cotton goods are the necessaries, not the luxuries of life, they 

* London Economist. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 67 

must be had at any price. On the other hand, when the price is so much de- 
preci-itcd a^ to render the culture of the staple unprofitable, which can only be 
the case when there is a superabundance cultivated, we have simply to divert a 
corresponding proportion of our labour to other -pursuits, for there will always 
be a certain amount of cotton absolutely indispensable to the human family, and 
of that amount the slaveholding States of the South, owing to their " peculiar 
institutions," and their peculiar facilities are destined to raise the bulk. 

From a recapitulation of the history of cotton, it appears to be a tact, the 
Southern States constitute the only country where the growth of cotton has al- 
ways been, and is now steadily increasing. But even here it does not increase 
more rapidly than is necessary to supply the increased consumption of it by the 
Northern and European manufactures. Nor can any increase in price materially 
aucrment the annual increase in the growth, for as much is now grown as our 
ne^n-oes can pick, and they increase only about three per cent annually. 

But as we have such a monopoly in the growth of this important staple, let 
us estimate how many miUions of human beings there are, whose welfare depends 
directly on the cotton which is cultivated by our slaves. It is stated by tlie high- 
est authority * that in England and Scotland there are over 4,000,000, whose 
support depends on cotton,\and this does not include many of the smaller facto- 
ries in those coufitries. Putting down 1,125,000 bales as the average amount of 
cotton manufactured by these 4,000,000 people, or which goes to supportthem.f 
We would have, supposing the same proportion to hold in other countries, the 
following table: ^^^^^ p^^pl^ 

In Great Britain, the manufacture of - 1,125,000 supports 4,000,000 

In America, " " " ^45,000 ^ 1,937,777 

In France and the North of Europe, the manu- ^ ^ ,, ^ ^„„ ... 

factureof ------ ^50,000 2,666,666 

Total population supported by the manufacture ^^^ 

of our cotton, - • - - - 'i-"iliiil ' ' 

Add to this the probable number of those engaged in the faelds to 
cultivate, etc., viz: 1,000,000 slaves, and those owning the land 
and negroes, together with those employed to overlook and at- 
tend the negroes, those engaged in transporting, selling, ship- 
ping, etc., et^c, the cotton from Southern ports, - - - J,000,000 

,1 ..----- 11,604,443 

and we liave, - - . ., , i- ^i ^i \^ 

human beino-s, whose comfort and prosperity depends directly on the cotton 
raised by the slaves of the Southern States. If then we were to add the number 
of those employed in the culture and consumption of our other staples, it would 
probably astonish the most sanguine abolitionist, to see what a revolution in the 
affairs of the civilized world his fanatical projects aim to accomplish. 

Notwithstandincr, there were a variety of embarrassments attending tlie eany 
cultivation of cotton, there is no one production of agriculture which has in- 
creased so rapidly, or acquired such pre-eminent influence over the atiairs ot man- 
kind Durincr the fifty-six years, between 1787 and 1844, the cotton crop of the 
South increased from one m'illion pounds to eight hundred millions ! From 1792 
to 1844 52 years, our exports to foreign ports increased from 150,000 pounds to 
600 000 000. In 1790, there were but 70 spindles in the United States, now 
there can not be less than two million, two or three hundred thousand. In 1803, 

+ T£4,OOo!ooTare composed as follows : 2,000,000 in Lancashire, 1,400,000 in the West 
riding of Yorkshire, and 600,000 in Lanarkshire. 



68 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

the whole of Europe did not inanufucture over 60,000,000 pounds, now there 
can not be less than 700,000,000 pounds consumed in manufacture there. 

These facts surpass any thing in the annals of agriculture, and amazing as they 
may appear, there is another which can never be separated from them ; they 
never could have existed without slavery. The feet is incontrovertible, that with- 
out the agency of slave labour, cotton for exportation never would, never could, 
have been raised in America. 

But with the aid of slave labour, "the price of the raw material has been 
reduced to about one-tenth of its former value in the space of half a century ; 
which, in conjunction with the improvement of machinery, has also reduced the 
price of cotton cloth in an equal ratio. Thus putting it in the power of the poor 
of every country to procure clothing for at least one-tenth part of the former 
prices. If etfects could be traced to their true causes, I doubt not but that it 
would be discovered that the improved condition of the poorer classes in every 
civilized country, was as much indebted to the reduced rates in the price of clo- 
thing, as to any other one cause whatever. No physical want is so degrading to 
the human family as the want of clothing ; nakedness and rags are the badges of 
poverty and degradation every where ; in this condition man seems to lose all 
self-respect, and becomes the dependent and passive instrument of him who has 
courage to use him. But clothe him in comfortable and tasteful raiment, and 
you impart to him a new spirit ; he holds up his head, looks his oppressor in the 
face and boldly demands his rights."* 

It is by the agencj^ of slave labour that this universal cheapening of clothes 
has been eftected ; it is by that agency that more more real benefit to our race has 
been accomplished, than by the agency of any one principle of modern philan- 
thropy in the whole catalogue ; it is by that agency that the North is what it 
now is ; and it is by this agency that the >South will be no longer the colony of 
the North, but a successful, independant competitor, after the bonds of our pre- 
sent political connection shall have been sundered forever. How then will the 
North be able to cope with the South in the cotton market ; with England on 
one side, and the South on the other, what will become of her manufacturing su- 
premacy, her growing commerce, her political power? Literally gone. The 
very fact that w^e have the raw material at our very doors at 2>ri'nie cost., is an ad- 
vantage over all other countries, which no competition can stand. Let the Union 
be once dissolved, and every " Lowell" of the flourishing North will " make night 
hideous" with its yells of desperation. We will then have our cotton delivered 
at our factories., our " Granitevilles," for from 10 to 20 per cent less than it could 
be delivered at Lowell, or any other town (jf the North. Even if there were not 
other advantages, this of itself is enough to render any competition from the North, 
which now requires so much j)7'otection, signally abortive. 

Cotton has all along been as much a benefit to the North as to the South, 
probably much more profitable ; and though it has served more than any other 
article to advance the commercial independence of the nation at large., its servi- 
ces in this respect has, through the agency of a variety of causes, all of which 
spring from the union of the North and South, advanced infinitely more the 
wealth and prosperity of the former, than those of the latter section of the Union. 
We cannot deny that cotton has brought incalculable wealth to the Southern 
States, but it certainly has brought but a moiety of what it would have brought, 
were the North and South distinct confederacies. 

At a convention held in Augusta, Georgia, in 1838, Mr. McDuffie, as chairman 
of a committee to prepare an address to the people of the South and West, sub- 
mitted a report which is replete with the sternest truths. He says, speaking of 

* Commercial Review. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY, 69 

the cotton trade among others : " Viewing the subject as one strictly of pohtical 
economy — and in that hght only are we now considering it — New-York, Penn- 
sylvania, and Massachusetts are, for all such purposes, to be regarded by the 
staple States as foreign communities ; not less so than Great Britain and France. 
The bonds of our political union, as confederated States, however they may bear 
upon other aspects of the subject, have no bearing wdiatever upon the question 
of national wealth, as it relates to the several States. The federal constitution, 
giving it the utmost amphtude of construction, cannot annihilate the intervening 
distance of a thousand miles ; nor has it annihilated the separate and independent 
organization of the States. We cannot, therefore, regard the wealth of New- 
York or Pennsylvania as the wealth of South-Carolina and Georgia, or as contri- 
buting towards it, upon any other principle than that mutual dependence happily 
existing between commercial communities, which makes the prosperity of the one 
conducive to that of the other, in proportion to the extent of the exchanges of 
their respective productions. 

" Applying these plain and obvious principles to the existing state of our com- 
mercial relations, it is apparent that the profit made by the merchants of New- 
York and other Northern cities, upon the exchange of our staples for foreign 
merchandize, is as effectually abstracted from the wealth of the staple-growing 
States, as if those cities belonged to a foreign jurisdiction." 

Our cotton is the capital upon Avhich four-fifths of the foreign commerce of all 
the States is based. And exactly to that extent is the credit obtained by all the 
States, based upon the cotton of Southern States, the produce of our slaves. But 
what a change must come over the spirit of their dream, when the Northern 
States find themselves coping with Evigland, without the aid of our cotton to sus- 
tain their credit. What a change, when that Chinese wall springs up to sever 
the Union ; no cotton, no slave labour, no South, no hobby, nothing but Eng- 
land ! ghastly England, staring them in the face. Ruined North ! when that'day 
comes, rise up and shake your leprous carcass, cleanse it, wash it, anoint it ; free 
it of those loathsome maggots which sap your foetid joints, those fiendish aboli- 
tionists, which will have brought ruin down upon you. Else, you may be glad 
to gather crumbs where now you gather loaves and fishes. 

Wdl there then not also be a change in the poor, contemned, despised South ? 
Ah, her disease is not corruption ! There is no gangrene, no soars, no loathsome 
harbingers of verminous invasion and revolting death ; none of these are on the 
South. When that day comes, she will rise up, not to be convulsed with ruin, 
but to clasp her hands and rejoice on her way that she has escaped the leper. 
W^here she now pours wealth into the strong chest of her Northern neighbour, 
she will then retain it for her own. Her commerce, now in the hands of those 
who would suicidally crush her through her institutions, will then, like her agri- 
culture, be carried on by those who have an interest in her institutions, a home 
on her soil and a heart in her service ; those who, in the case of a political con- 
vulsion, will not desert her for their Northern homes, will not seek a new country 
or a new destiny. 

Who will undertake to estimate the value of our cotton, the value of our 
slaves. They are the means by which we are to ensure commercial independence 
to ourselves, political power and political independence to ourselves. .With them 
■we are identified with all that is majestic in the afi'airs of the world. We hold 
the Archimedean lever which can upheave a continent, convulse a wofld. What , 
is an army of warriors, when compared to the potent cotton of our fields ? Long 
after the din of war is hushed, when armies have met to struggle for supremacy 
in vain ; when blood has turned the green fields red, all to no purpose ; when 
Mars himself is dumb with disappointment; when every echo brings the plain- 
tive cry for peace ! peace ! there will arise a mightier power than that of armies, 
a mightier cry than that for peace ; it will be cotton ! bread ! life. 



70 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

CHAPTER X. 



" Poor man ! I know he ■would not be a wolf. 
But tliat he sees the Romans are all sheep ; 
He were no lion, were not Romans hinds." 



Comparatively considered, slavery, so far from being a public evil, is a posi- 
tive benefit to the public. It could not be otherwise, for it is in strict accordance 
with the economy of nature, it is at war with none of nature's laws. Chancellor 
Harper observes in his memoir, that "it is the order of nature and of God, that 
the being of superior faculties and knowledge, and therefore of superior power, 
should control and dispose of those who are inferior. It is as much in the order 
of nature, that men should enslave each other, as that other animals should prey 
upon each other." The only difference that we can see is, that as man is a moral 
being, so he is morally responsible when he enslaves his fellow man. It is the 
consciousness of this moral responsibility which makes the master careful how he 
wantonly inflicts privations and abridges the enjoyments of those in his power. 
But, in being the master under these obligations, there'is certainly no violation of 
nature's laws. Where, in nature, is there a community which has not an acknow- 
ledged mask)'. Every poultry yard has its master cock, who triumphantly lords 
it over all the rest. Every ant-hill has its sovereign, every bee hive its ruler. 
But man, more vicious than all his fellow animals, is the only one to set himself 
up as masterless, while the truth is, he has more masters, from God to Mammon, 
than any " kindred brute." 

If domestic slavery is a system at variance with the economy of nature, it is 
certain there would constantly be a struggle for the supremacy between nature 
and this artificial economy ; and there can be no doubt, that so powerful is the 
force of nature in tlie execution of all her invariable laws, she would, in such a 
contest, soon obtain the mastery. Her laws, her economy, can never be perma- 
nently banished from her kingdom, thet/ mu.^t prevail. If then slavery is at war 
with the laws of nature, we may depend upon it, it is destined to disappear with- 
out the interposition of any other laws than those of nature. Abolitionists can 
do nothing more than retard the operations of nature, or else hast-en them or too 
suddenly, at the expense of other laws of more fearful consequence. But, on the 
contrary, as slavery has existed in every age and in every climate .^ince the world 
began, we find it difficult to believe that it can be such a violation ui' nature, as 
latter-day philanthropists would have it. 

Viewing, in our comparison, the subject of slavery as one of political economy, 
we must remember not only the immediate objects, but the ultimate results. 
The legitimate object of life is the pursuit of hu2)p/ness ; in this pursuit, wealth 
is a means, not an end. " The immediate object of political economy is the accu- 
mulation, the di -tribution and enjoyment of national wealth or capital. The ulti- 
mate use of all wealth is the increase and diftusion of happiness and improvement, 
and the diminution of the distress and necessities of man. The ultimate and real 
object of national wealth, therefore, should be the increase and distribution of 
national happiness, and the relief of national want and suflering-" But all 
wealth originates solely in labour. It is labour, and labour only, that creates 
wealth, it is economy that accumulates wealth ; and exemption from distress, hap- 
piness, is the sole object of this accumulation. 

In the Southern States, the labour which creates wealth is slave labour ; in the 
Northern States, it is called free labour. The system of economy which accumu- 
lates wealth at the South is chiefly agricultural, that of the North chiefly com- 
mercial. It only remains for us to see whether the exemption from distress, the 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 7l 

ultimate object of both sections, is more effectually attained in one than in the 
other. Without going into a lengthy discussion on the subject, let us throw to- 
gether a few facts to confirm what has already been shown, that our domestic in- 
stitutions will favourably compare with those of any other nation in the world. 

Tlie existence of slavery radiates a proper spirit of discipline and order through- 
out the entire community of those States in which we find it. We invite com- 
parison. We defy any nation on the fare of the earth, to exhibit a less degree 
of crftne among its citizens ; a greater degree of quietude and contentment 
throughout the community at large ; a more sincere obedience to law and love 
of order ; and more patient forbearance, than now characterizes the slaveholding 
States of America. That portion of society which, in other States, constitutes 
the mob, in ours, constitutes the industrious, frugal and orderly citizens. That 
portion of the population which, in other countries, consists of the pensioner, the 
beggar, the shop-lifter, is matched in ours by the healthy and vigorous labourer, 
the comfortable negro, the well-regulated slave. Whilst in Northern States we 
hear of theatre rows, church burnings, street fights, mobs, suicide, seduction, 
rape, murder, even murder ala Webster, and pickVmg ala Colt, pickling human 
flesh to ship to the South, as a moral hint of the moral evils of slavery ; we hear 
no responsive echo from the benighted South. All is quiet there. She is trans- 
fixed with amazement at the immoral advancement of her devoted monitor, the 
pious North. 

But it is not only the Southern States of this Union which are so secure from 
individual crime and social disturbance, as compared with other countries. Brazil 
also aftbrds a striking evidence of the truth. In that country, where the slaves 
are to the free as two to one, possessed by a haughty and revengeful people, ac- 
customed to war and fond of adventure, tranquility has reigned supreme for a 
quarter of a century. It is, indeed, a remarkable fact, that "Brazil and the 
United States, the only two nations on this continent where African slavery pre- 
vails, are the only two which have succeeded in the establishment of stable and 
flourishing social and political institutions. In all the Spanish American States, 
where the attempt has been made to introduce political equality among distinct 
and dissimilar races, it has been followed by incessant insurrection, anarchy, pov- 
erty, vice and barbarism." 

Notwithstanding these uncontrovertable facts, slavery- is denounced as the worst 
thing upon earth, and the Southern people the most immoral, dissolute and vici- 
ous now living. According to the fashion of the day, the Southern people are 
described as being without morals and without industry. A truly aftecting pic- 
ture is portrayed, domestic life is accurately depicted, the master is cursing, beat- 
ing and wounding the crouching slave : in imitation, the young son is storming 
at and cursing the young slave ; every household is a scene of constant tyranny ; 
the country is like one accursed, and liberty is tottering ; the intercourse between 
white and black is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous passions ; the most 
unremitting despotism on the one part, and degrading submission on the other. 
The people are all drunkards by common consent, no one can be a gentleman, 
unless he is a gambler, they know nothing but the art of flogging slaves, for sci- 
ence or literature they have no taste, their minds are not capable of a single idea 
of politeness, and women among them are little removed from slaves ; their 
slaves of course treated much worse than brutes. Such is the most approved 
style of representing Southern manners and Southern institutions. Strange per- 
version — unaccountable ignorance. We have ourselves conversed with persons 
of respectable standing at the North, who were so totally misinformed on these 
subjects, that when told the grossest absurdities, their belief was firm and eager, 
but when told the plain truth, prejudice smothered the first symptoms of belief. 
Tell them of the most unheard of cruel|ty, and theif avidity to hear and be pef- 



72 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

suaded is marvellous, but mention a single eveiy-day occurrence, and they pro- 
nounce it impossible. 

But the Northern people of course are all that is good, they kave no evil 
traits, and their exalted qualities are too numerous to mention. Every body 
knows there is no vice in New-England, nor the semblance of it in any other 
Northern State. There never was a murder heard of within their limits : all 
those imperfect rumors about the pickling business ala Colt, and mincing business 
ala Webster must have been a mistake. A drunkard has never been seen north 
of Maryland. Gambling is quite unknown. Modern gladiators have never been 
permitted to amuse the Northern public. And reader ! if you have ever heard 
of helpless women having their convent homes burnt over their heads, at the 
dead of night, on the unblemished soil of New-England ; if you have ever heard 
of the anti-renters of New-York, the rioters of Pennsylvania, the black mobs of 
Ohio, the Native Americans, Agrarians, the Millerites, Dorrites, aye, and the blue 
lights ! turn a deaf ear. It is not so. If you hear of divorces, crim cons^ 
frauds and seductions ; if you hear of jails and penitentiaries ; rise in your indig- 
nation, and demand of your informant how he dares to address siich notorious 
falsehoods to you. 

If you wish evidence of what we say, take up the first New-York or Boston 
paper you meet with. 

We have already seen how much more healthy the negroes in Southern cities 
are than the white inhabitants ; let us now see how the mortality of the two 
classes compares in Northern cities. It is very much to be regretted, that authen- 
tic information as to the mortahty of zohole cities is not to be procured ; but we 
have sufficient data, from th« records of penitentiaries, prisons, etc., upon which 
to base a loose comparison. We will make a short table, from a condensation 
of the reports of the " Prison Discipline Association," for 1845, '46, and '47.* 
It speaks for the morals, as well as the longevity, of Northern /;-ee?rten, of "Afric's 
Bable hue." 

IN PHILADELPHIA. 

From 1821 to 1830, of all the deaths at large there was an average, 

Among whites. Am'g negroes. 
Annual per cent, of - - 2.42 4.75 

From 1830 to 1842, " " " " in penitentiary, 2.09 6.62 

" 1835 to 1845, " " " " in prison, - 1 in 46 1 in 12 

" 1837 to 1847, out of 54 deaths of consumption in the connty jail, 40 were 
negroes and 14 whites. 
From March, 1 841 , to March, 1844, the average Am'g whites. Am'g negroes. 

deaths in the Weathersiield Penitentiary was - 2.82 10.96 per ct. 

From 1841 to 1843, in the Eastern Penitentiary, - 1.85 6.63 " " 

The whole admission of convicts in the Eastern Penitentiary of Pennsylvania, 
from October, 1829, to December, 1845, was 2,054, of which 692, about one- 
third, were negroes. This frightful immorality and crime of the black population 
will be understood, when it is reflected how small a proportion of the population 
of Pennsylvania, or even of Philadelphia, it embraces. Extraordinary as it may 
seem, in 1840, very nearly 140 per cent, of the inmates of the same prison were 
coloured ! " Perhaps," says Dr. Ginon, physician in charge, in his report, " the 
most striking feature is the great disproportion between white and coloured 
deaths — a disproportion that has engaged the attention and sympathy of some 
of our most enlightened and benevolent citizens, and given rise to various hypo- 
theses. If my experience, etc., justify, I would say, without hesitation, it is 
owing entirely to their utter neglect of the necessary means of preserving health, 

* An article in the Commercial Review of 1847 ; by the Editor. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. ^3 

extreme sensuality, etc. This opinion I believe myself in possession of sufficient 
facts to substantiate." 

In 1845, Matthew L. Bevan, Esq., President of the Eastern Penitentiary of 
Pennsylvania, adverts again to the subject : "The increase of deaths comes from 
the blacks. This increase of mortality is found in the fact that those coloured 
inmates from the county of Philadelphia, are so constitutionally diseased, as, 
under any and all circumstances, to be short-lived, from their character and habits. 
They die of constitutional and chronic disorders, which are general among their 
order, owing to the j^rivations they undergo, and the tvant of proinr attention in 
infancy, and their peculiar mode of living.^'' Mr. Bevan concludes: "Indulging 
in the use of ardent spirits, subjected to a prejudice, tvhich bids defiance to any 
successful atteuqjt to imp)rove their physical or moral condition, from youth to 
manhood, solving the seeds of disease in their constitutions, and at last becoming 
inmates of prisons.''^ 

These sad and mournful pictures, fi-om a city like Philadelphia, where the 
blacks might be supposed to be as favourably situated as freedom could make 
them, are worthy of deep contemplation. If, after a period of so protracted free- 
dom, their freedom has, so far from improving, sunk them lower and lower, beyond 
measure lower than in any city where slavery exists, it would seem full time for 
blind and raving sentimentality to come to its senses, and let alone what it is 
incapable of meddling with without mischief. If, however, the " equality " of 
the negroes North, South and East is the point, degrade the Southern, or, what 
is the same thing, as Philadelphia shows, free them, and you have the desired 
■ result. 

IN NEW-YORK. 

The proportion of whites to negroes, in New- York, is - - 50 to 1 

In 1846, there were in the N. Y. Penitentiary 788 whites, 96 negroes, or 8 to 1 

" " " '' " " City Prison, - - - - 5 to 1 

" " " " at Sing-Sing, 661 whites to 193 negroes, or 4^ to 1 

There were 400 commitments that year for intemperance, of which 110 were 
negroes, 7nore than a fourth! 

Dr. Welch, in his report of 1844, says, "It also appears, from the records of 
the State Prison of Connecticut, that, since the commencement of the institution, 
in 1828, half of the deaths have been among the blacks, amounting to 5.40 per 
cent., (of all the blacks,) and 1.07 per cent, (of all the) whites ! He also refers 
to the authority of Dr. Nott, of Mobile, in support of his opinion, that the blacks 
of the North ^^ possess less vitality than the whitesT 

We regret that our data, at this moment, are so incomplete. They, however, 
present some food for reflection. One might think that our friends and fellow- 
citizens at the North would have enough to do to look after the condition of 
their own affairs, instead of troubling themselves with ours. We do not envy 
them their occupation, in either case. 

The task of comparing the South and North has been so ably performed by 
others, that but little reniains for us to do but to sum up a few of the leading 
points which have been discussed at length by them. It will serve to show that 
if it is deemed expedient by the South to take a decided stand, to have no moTe 
encroachments upon her constitutional and inherent rights, or to dissolve the 
Union, she can come forward boldly, and in the full confidence of success, even 

IF THERE BE AN APPEAL TO ARMS. 

Let us first examine the wealth of the two sections. It hast been clearly de- 
monstrated, that in no respect whatever is there any foundation for the popular 
belief, that the Southern States, or any of them, are, either now or heretofore, or 
likely to be hereafter, inferior to their Northern neighbours in wealth, but the 



74 ' THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

reverse.* According to authority derived from the very best sources — official 
documents — it is asserted that the average property of white persons in the State 
of New-York is about one-third that of the same class in the State of Virginia. 
The same may be said with regard to Ohio and Kentucky. But though the 
average wealth of individuals in one State is greater than in the other, it is main- 
tained that the aggregate wealth of the North is greater than that of the South. 
If it is so, it only goes to confirm a previous remark, that the proportion of capi- 
tal to population, or of capital to labour, is less at the North than at the South. 

The average wealth of each individual in the State of New-York is about 228 
dollars, and of Pennsylvania ^219. Of Virginia it is about |749,f and in South- 
Carolina, regarding the slaves among the rest of the population^ not as property, 
the average wealth of each individual is |330 ! The States of Michigan and 
Aakansas were admitted into the Union, we believe, aboul the same time. They 
are both new States — both agricultural. The population of Michigan amounted, 
in 1847, to 370,00().| That of Arkansas to 152,400, including slaves. The 
whole agricultural products of Michigan amounted, in 1848, to 111,697,081. 
That of Arkansas, the same year, amounted to |>12,304,013. Thus, in Michigan, 
the average production of each iidiabitant was $31 50. That of Arkansas, 
counting slaves, ws^^ $80 50. Michigan produced, in 1840,2,277,039 bushels 
of Indian corn. Arkansas, with not half the population, produced 4,846,632 
bushels. 

In the State of New-York, there is one pauper to every seventeen inhabitants. 
In Massachusetts, one to every twenty. In these two States — generally consi- 
dered the most flourishing of the Union — pauperism is found to be advancing 
ten times more rapidly than their wealth or 2wp)ulation ! In the city of New- 
York, one person out of every five is, more or less, dependant on public charity. 
In Virginia and Kentucky, and in every Southern State, pauperism may be said 
scarcely to exist. In some of them, a genuine object of charity is rarely to be 
met with. In some parts of the North, pauperism is not confined to those who 
are unable to labour, but is the state in which many live who are unxoilling to 
labour, or, being willing, are unable to find employment. This state of things, 
wherever it is found to exist, is a certain indication that the wages of labour are 
reduced to the cost of subsistence. The mass of the labouring people must, 
under these circumstances, work, not for the sake of improving their condition 
and accumulating capital, but merely to avoid the discipline of a poor-house. In 
other words, to avoid that slavery which stares them in the face. For what is 
more true, than that "the pauper in an alms-house is a slave — he works under a 
master and receives nothing but a subsistance." And can it be possible ? We 
are told there are about 200,000 such slaves in Boston and Massachusetts, taken 
together. And, what is worse, their number increases at the enormous rate of 
200 per cent, in ten years, or about ten times as rajiidly as the whole population. 
In 184G, the net amount expended in the support of paupers, in Massachusetts, 
was $301,707 08, of which the State supplied $3 3,852. 

It is also an established fact, that wealth at the South is more equally distribu- 
ted than it is at the North, and, as a consequence, capital is more universally 
accumulated. Even throwing aside all statistics, and all documental autliority, it 
<;an still be proved that the wealth of the South, in proportion to its population, 
must be greater than that of the North. In all well-settled countries, the price 
-of labour indicates the proportion of capital to po)>ulation, and if that price is 
low in any country, that proportion must be small ; but we have already seen that 
wages are lower at the North than at the South — it follows, then, that the pro- 

* " The North iind South," by Elwood Fisher. 

f This includes only the free population. These numbers are derived from the Post Office 
Keport of 1847. 

\ Report of Commissioner of Patents. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 75 

portion of capital to population must be less also. As to the argument, that the 
North must be richer in its products than the South, because, on a given area, 
as, for instance, the State of Massachusetts, a much larger population is supported 
than on an equal area at the South, the absurdit}' is evident, for it is based u)ion 
the supposition that both areas are so densely })opulated that they can neither 
support one additional inhabitant, which, of course, is ridiculous. Facts authorize 
a very difierent conclusion. The produce of the Xorth is intended chiefly for 
domestic consumption ; that of the South principally for foreign markets. F-ach 
section supports its population and ex])orts whatever of its produce remains. 
Now, because the North has a denser population than the South to support, and '^ 
consequently, is obliged to cultivate more for domestic consumption, would it be 
proper to infer that the North is the richer for that ? It would be equally wise 
to say of two meu, each of which possessed more land than he has means to 
cultivate, that he who has ten children is richer than he who has five, because he. 
manages, with a little extra labour, to feed five mouths more than the other. 

A few more facts, and we are done. We have already seen how exempt ne- 
groes are fi'ora the pernicious effects of malaria in our Southern climate ; let us 
now see how the increase and longevity of our slaves compare with those of the 
freemen of the North. 

In 1848, the population of Charleston was composed of 14,187 whites, and 
12,264 negroes, or about 7 whites to 6 blacks. The births and deaths were as 
follows :* 

Whites. Negroes. 
Births, 465 540 75 more than whites. 

Deaths, 303 311 8 " " " 



Net increase, 162 229 67 " " " 

For every 87.5 white there was an increase of one, and for every 53.5 black 
there was an increase of one. On the plantations, the increase among the negroes 
is nearly double this rate. 

In Boston, the proportion of adult deaths in the whole population is, according 
to Dr. Shattuck, 43.63 'per cent., and that of those over 70 years is 5.77 per 
cent. 

In Charleston, the proportion of adult deaths to the whole population — speak- 
ing of negroes only — is 52.29 per cent., and that of those over 70 years is 11.25 
per cent. 

IN BOSTON. 

Of all ages, the average age at death is 23 years, 4 months. 
" adults, •' " " " " " 44 " 8 " 

IN NEW-YORK. 

Of all ages, the average age at death is 21 years, 10 months. 
" adults, " " " " " " 41 " 4 

IN PHILADELPHIA. 

Of all ages, the average age at death is 23 years, 4 months. 
" adults, " " " " " " 46 " 

IN ENGLAND. 

Of all ages, the average age at death is 23 years, 5 months. 

IN CHARLESTON, (among the negroes only.) 

Of all ages, the average age at death is 29 years, 3 months. 

" adults, " " '' " " " 50 " 8 

Here, then, is our right to claim for our institutions the superiority. Compared 

with the inliabitants of any country, we are prepared to pi'onounce our slaves the 

healthit'?t, happiest, and longest lived. Oh, abulitionist ! what an account you 

* See census of Cbarlestou for 1849. 



76 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

must render for the mischief you have done. What horror will strike your per- 
jured soul, when, hurried into an eternal audience with your God, your groans 
will be swallowed up in the piercing shriek of millions, and your '•^ death rattles''^ 
but the gurgling echo of a dying nation. Avaunt fiend ! to the hellish manacles 
that enslave you ; go clank them on the rocks of Plymouth, for your work is 
done — forever done ! 

In our remarks concerning the wealth of the South, we do not pretend to say 
that the commercial prosperiti/ of the South is even on a par with that of the 
North. It is, on the contrary, a distressing fact, that the commercial independence 
of the Southern States has been completely wrested from them by the action of 
the federal government ; but this circumstance does not- affect the truth, that the 
South is richer than the North. It only bears on some departments of industry, 
not on all. But, even if it did go to confound our assertion, it the more effect- 
ually goes to assist us in our main argument ; it is hut another reason why the 
Union should be dissolved now, for such a measure would assuredly re-establish 
our commercial independence. And it is the only measure which can re-establish 
it, because it is the only step Avhich the weak South can take, in opposition to the 
strong North. 

However, if the South was poor — if it were a mere deserted wilderness — who 
could wonder ? With the general government cruelly oppressing her, with the 
abolition power on one hand, and a noxious climate on the other, the only wonder 
is that she has been able to keep abreast with other nations. Mr. McDuffie re- 
marks, in his report, "In addition to the ten millions of dollars yearly abstracted 
by the unfavourable course of our foreign trade, the action of the federal govern- 
ment, in the collection and disbursement of the public revenues, has operated as 
a burden to an equal or even greater amount. The system of raising, by duties 
on foreign goods, nearly the whole amount necessary to meet the wants of the 
government, including the discharge of an immense pubhc debt, was, of itself, 
calculated to depress the industry of the cotton-growing States, which was almost 
exclusively employed in raising the products which were exclanged for the veVy 
articles thus enormously taxed. But when these duties were extended to an 
amount greatly exceeding the wants of the government, ranging from 25 to up- 
wards of 100, and amounting, on an average, to 40 per cent., imposed for the 
avowed purpose of affording protection and encouragement to those, the produc- 
tions of whose industry (free from all taxation) came into direct competition with 
the foreign goods received in exchange for our cotton, rice and tobacco ; when 
the vast amounts thus extracted were accumulated at the North, and there ex- 
pended on the army and navy, the fortifications, public buildings, pensions, and 
the other various objects of national expenditure — the balance being distributed 
in internal improvement— of which we receive but a small share, can it be a mat- 
ter of wonder or surprise, that, even with the richest staples in the world, the 
South should exhibit the extraordinary spectacle, of a country making hardly any 
progress ; while the more favoured, though comparatively barren, regions of the 
North were seen constantly advancing in wealth and prosperity ? This unequal 
action of the federal government — as it was, in the first instance, the most promi- 
nent cause of the subversion of Southern commerce — has constantly aided in 
preventing its recovery, by stimulating the commercial industry of the North, 
and building up Northern cities at the expense of those of the South and South- 
West. To show the magnitude of this evil, it is only necessary to advert to the 
fact, that the gross amount received from customs has been estimated* at the 
enormous sum of nine hundred millions of dollars, nearly three-fourths of which 

* It must be remembered this report was made over 14 years ago. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 77 

were levied on goods received in exchange for the productions of the South and 
South-West, and nine-tenths of it expended north of the Potomac." 

These events, which have been growing and progressing for the last sixty j^ears, 
sometimes huge in their pro])ortions, at others trifling in their consequences, have, 
within the memory of many among us, reduced the South almost to the state of 
" colonial vassalage," which our fathers so indignantly spurned in 1776. Look 
at the facts, the mortifying facts, and remember they do not spring out of our 
slave institutions, as Northern men maintain in their declamations, but out of the 
unequal action of the federal government, the loss of the balance of power essen- 
tial to the harmonizing of conflicting interests. 

In 1769, the value of the imports of some of the colonies was as follows: 
Of Virginia, ------- £851,140 

" all the New-England States, - . - - - 561,000 

" South-Carolina, ------ 555,000 

" Pennsylvania, ------ 400,000 

" New-York, ------- 189,000 

Thus Virginia and South-Carolina imported together, - - 1,401,140. 

While the Middle and Eastern States " " - - 1,150,000 

The exports were in about the same proportion. Virginia exported nearly .^ 
four times as much as New-York. South Carolina exported about twice as much 
as New-York and Pennsylvania put together, and five times as much as all the 
New-England States united. 

The same relative proportion of imports was preserved, until the Union, under 
the present constitution, was formed. Immediately upon the formation of the 
Union, we see the Northern States rapidly advancing and the South falling oft". 
As early as 1791, 

New- York imported - - - $3,222,000 

Virginia " - . - 2,486,000 

South-Carolina " - - - 1,520,000 

What a complete change, to be accomplished in 20 years ! 

The exports of these States amounted, 

New-York. Virginia. South-Carolina. 

*• In 1821, 823,000,000 $1,098,000 $3,000,000 

" 1832, 57,000,000 550,000 1,213,000 

These numbei's speak for themselves. No one can shut his eyes to the inference 
to be drawn from them. It is as clear as the noontide sun, that, as the South 
has always practiced slave labour, and, prior to the formation of the present 
Union, was perfectly able to carry on a profitable commerce with all the world ; 
that, as she has been deprived of this commerce by causes which are the off- 
spring of this Union, and which never existed prior to the Union ; and, as all 
effects must be obviated by the removal of their causes, it follows that there is no 
obstacle in the way of our resumption of a profitable commerce with all the 
world, to the same com]>arative extent as it formerly existed, so soon as these '^ 
causes, the offspring of this Union, are removed ; and, if they cannot be removed by 
other means, their cause must be removed — the Union must be amended, dissolved. 

But, thank God, our case is not so bad as that. We do not contend for com- 
merce ; we would not dissolve the Union to retrieve the commerce- which has 
been taken from us ; we let it go ; our faith has been pledged, rashly pledged, 
perhaps, but we are bound to let the majority rule in this respect. But is it not 
enouglj to lose our commerce ? Must we lose our land, our slaves, our lives, our 
homes, our independence, our honour ? Must we stand with our arms folded, i, 
and look on, to see all that we have wantonly despoiled and confiscated, because 
we think we ought to say we love the Union, the glorious Union. And all the 
while we think, we know, we feel we hate the Union, the oppressive Union, the 



Y8 THE dinunionist; or, 

degrading submission, the miserable vassalage the glorious Union imposes upon 
us. Shame on such bypocrisy. 

In compaving the wealth, we should not forget the natural resources of the 
Southern States, stretching out, as thev do, over so vast a territory ; embracing 
every wholesome variety of climate, soil and production ; possessing the finest 
harbours and noblest streams that could be desired ; forests, whose timbers can 
never be exhausted ; every grade of salubrity, from the valley of the river to the 
\ofty mountain top ; every facility for manufacture ; every blessing that could be 
expected from a divine Benefactor. Among our people there is to be found every 
order of talent. There is no genius at the North but the South can eclipse it ; 
no valour in the world but the South can equal it ; no profession in science but 
the South can produce masters. We may cultivate the staple of any climate, or 
adopt the plant of any soil ; commerce is invited by the beauty and safety of our 
harbours ; our large rivers fertilize the land in all directions, and joyously bear on 
their exulting bosoms the richest harvests in the world ; our forests can furnish 
navies for all futurity ; and who will undertake to place a limit on our natural 
manufiicturing advantages. Reader ! if you would be convinced of the magni- 
tude of our advantages, the immensity of our blessings, and the power we are 
destined to wield, if we perform our duty, you have but to lay open the map of 
the American continent before you, on one side, and that of the old world on the 
other. From them you may learn that " had it been left to man to plan the form 
of a basin for commerce, on a large scale — a basin for the waters of our rivers 
and the products of our lands — he could nut have drawn the figure of one better 
adapted for it than that of the Gulf of Mexico, nor placed it in a position half so 
admirable."* " Rightly to perceive how admirably located and arranged for the 
purposes of commerce, are the Gulf and Caribean Sea, and duly to' appreciate 
the advantages arising therefrom, let us, before comparing tli ■ river basins of 
America with those of Europe and Asia, or before tracing uulher the effects 
w'hicli the course of the rivers of a country has upon its commerce, take a 
glance at the geographical position of this our central sea." 

Curtained, on the east, by a chain of fruitful islands, stretching from Trinidad 
to Cuba, it is, on the north and the south and the west, land-locked by the con- 
tinent, which has bent and twisted around this sea, so as to fold it within its 
bosom, and hold it mid-way between the two semi-continents of the new world. 

In this favoured position, it receives, on one side, the mountain streamlets of a 
sea of islands.; on another, all the great rivers of North America; and, on the 
others, the intertropical drainage of the entire continent. 

The Atlantic Ocean circulates through this our Mediterranean. Its office in the 
economy of the world is most important. It not only attbrds an outlet for the 
great American rivers, but it makes their basins habitable, by giving them drain- 
age, and sending off, far away into the ocean, the drift and the over-heated waters 
which the rivers bring down. It also, through its system of cold and warm cur- 
rents, makes its own shores habitable to man, tempers the climate of Europe, and, 
by its genial warmth, makes productive the soil there. 

The Amazon, rising in the Andes, and emptying in the ocean under the line, 
also finds its way through the magnificent llanos and pampas of the tropics down 
to the margin of this sea. 

In consequence of the Gulf Stream the mouth of the Mississippi is really in 
the Florida pass. The waters of the Amazon flow through the same channel. 
The great equatorial current of the Atlantic sweeps across the mouth ©f this 
river," and carries its waters into the Caribbean Sea: from the Caribbean Sea they 

* We quote from an article of Lieut. Maury, U. S. Navy, lately re-published in the Com- 
mercial Review. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDV. ^9 

flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and thence, by the Gulf Stream, back into the At- 
lantic. Such is the channel through which the waters of the Atlantic complete 
their circuit, and are borne back into the ocean again. The distance, in a straight 
line, from the mouth of the Amazon to the Florida pass, is only twenty-four hun- 
dred miles. Therefore, the Amazon may be very properly regarded as one of the 
tributaries, and its basin as a part of the back country, to this, our noble sea. 

The connection is even more close ; ^or one mouth of the Amazon is that of the 
Orinoco, which empties directly into the Caribbean Sea. These two streams pre- 
sent the anomaly of two great rivers having sources tliat are common. A per- 
son sailing up the Amazon, may cross over into the Orinoco, and re-enter the sea 
through that river, without having once set his foot on shore. The Rio Negro, 
by its branches, serves as a canal to connect the two. 

The Mississippi and the Amazon are the two great commercial arteries of the 
continent, and this sea is like a heart to the ocean. Its two divisions of sea and 
gulf perform the office of ventricles in the system of ocean circulation. Float- 
ing bodies, from the region of Cape Horn, from the coast of Africa and the shores 
of Europe, are conveyed into the Caribbean Sea, and thence into the Gulf of 
Mexico, whence its waters are again sent forth over the broad bosom of the At- 
lantic. Upon summing up all the river basins of this gulf and sea, they are 
found to cover 7nore than four times the area of those which are drained by the 
streams emptying into the Mediterranean. 

The history of the world shows that the greatest commercial cities are those 
which are most advantageously situated with regard to the outlets, natural or 
artificial, of great river basins and producing regions. All of these advantages 
are pre-eminently possessed by the cities on our gulf coast, and in addition to 
this, the Gulf presents greater facilities for navigation, than anv similar sea in the 
world. 

The shores of the Mediterranean are indented by deep bays and projecting 
points of land, which greatly lengthen the sailing distance from port to port. 
The sinuosities of shore lines add to the expenses of commercial intercourse. By 
land, the distance from Genoa to Venice is that only of a few hours travel; but 
by water, they are more than a thousand miles apart. There are no such inter- 
ruptions to navigation in the Gulf of Mexico. The shortest distance from port 
to port there, as from New-Orleans to the ports of Texas and Mexico, to Pensa- 
cola, Havana and the like, is hy water. From the ports of the Levant and Black 
Sea to the ocean, a vessel, under canvass, requires a month or more ; but from 
any point on the coast of this central sea of America, a vessel may be put out 
upon the broad ocean in a few days. Winds and currents, with all the adjuvants 
of navigation, are here much more propitious to the mariner, than they are in any 
other part of the world. 

The windings of the Mediterranean shore line, exclusive of its islands, measure 
12,000 miles ; whereas, those of the Gulf and Caribbean Sea do not measure half 
that distance. 

The area of all the valleys which are drained by the rivers of Europe, which 
empty into the Atlantic, of all the valleys which are drained by the rivers o'f 
Asia, which empty into the Indian ocean, and of all the valleys that are drained 
by the rivers of Africa and Europe, which empty into the Mediterranean, does not 
cover an extent of territory as great as that included in the valleys drained by 
the American rivers alone, which discharge themselves into our central sea. 
Never was there such a concentration upon any sea, of commercial resources. 
Never was there a sea known with such a back country tributary to it. 

From the ports of Europe to those of India, the distance is from 15 to 20,000 
miles, and a voyage each way often occupies 200 days. Tlie distance from the 
Balize to the Orinoco or Amazon, may be accomplished in 20 or 30 days. One 



80 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

ship, therefore, trading between our system of river basins, may fetch and carry, 
in the course of one year, as many cargoes as ten sliips can, in the same time, 
convey between the remote basins of the system in the old workh Thus, in our 
favoured position, we have, at the distance of only a few days sail, an extent of 
fruitful basins for commercial intercourse, which they of the old world have to 
compass sea and land and sail around the world to reach. 

From 50° north to 20'^ south, the Mississippi and the Amazon take their rise. 
A straight line from the head waters of the one to those of the other, measures 
a quadrant of the globe. They afibrd outlets to all the producing climates of the 
earth. Upon this gulf and sea, perpetual summer reigns ; and upon their shores, 
chmate is piled upon climate, production upon production, in such luxuriance and 
profusion, that man, without changing his latitude, may, in one day, ascend fi'om 
summer's heat to winter's cold, gathering, as he' goes, the fruits of every clime, 
the staples of every country. 

Invaluable as this gulf naturally is, what will it not become when man shall 
have joined the great oceans of the e?rth in eternal wedlock, when Europe and 
Asia will make it their common highway, and the commerce of the world attest 
the truth that it is the heart of the ocean system. Then, indeed, will the Gulf 
of Mexico be the water to which all eyes are turned ; lier coasts must become the 
home of commerce, the seat of wealth. But that coast is already half encom- 
passed by the Southern slaveholding, cotton-growing States, Where then must 
the South look for commercial independence ; which is her proper front ? Must 
she forever cling to thfit glorious phantom, the Union ! that her life blood may be 
abstracted by vile leeches. Or must she turn her face to the South, the Gulf! the 
highway of nations, the heart of navigation, the centre of commerce. What 
then is to prevent the South fromattaining to the h ghest commercial indepen- 
dence, if, in her present desperate degradation, she throws off the yoke she has 
unfortunately too long borne. 

With respect to our military resources, we will speak more at length in another 
chapter. For the present it will be sufficient to remark, that during the revolu- 
tionary war, the Southern States furnished men and money, even beyond their 
quota. It is true — and we would not detract a single iota from Northern valor — 
the North also furnished her quota, but there was this difference : the men fur- 
nished by the North, fought chiefly on their own soil ; those furnished by the 
South, were transported far away from their homes, to assist in the defence of the 
North which was, for a long time, the principal theatre of action. It has been 
estimated by a writer of those times,* that, in one aggregate view, the debt and 
expenses incurred by one of the smallest of the Southern States,f dui-ing this 
war exclusive of the blood of its citizens, amounted to upwards of thirteen mil- 
lions of dollars. In the late war with Mexico, twO'thirds of the vokmteers mus- 
tered into service, were citizens of slaveholding States. As to the co7iduct of the 
Southern volunteers, it was certainly as good as that of the Northern. Besides 
furnishing this majority of troops, the reveoue by which this and other wars have 
been sup'ported, the public debt paid,^; and the price for the territory furnished, 
has been raised chiefly by duties which have notoriously operated, designedly and 
incidentally, to promote the industry and capital of the North, and to oppress 
those of the South, 

The resources of genius and intellect at the South will, in no Avay, suffer by 
being contrasted with those of the North, While we do not deny that both 
sections possess great worth in this department, it is nevertheless true, that " the 
North has never produced a statesman, w ho has durably stamped the impress of 
his mind upon the legislature of the country, and made his thought, the thought, 

* Winterbotham. f South-Carolina. % The North and South, by Fisher. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDV. 81 

of his own generation, and of posterity.* There is no great measure of pubhc 
pohcy, which was originated by a Northern lawgiver. Not even such men as 
Adams, or Webster, have been able to associate their names with the authorship 
or development of any far-reaching, abiding acts Of legislation. The union of 
wisdom, in the highest scripture sense, with moral and physical boldness, with 
firmness and ])rudence, which made Washington the leader of otir revolutionary 
armies, and the appropriate guardian of our infant federation, was eminently 
characteristic of the Southerner and the slaveholder ; it was the degree only, not 
the kind^ that was miraculous. Such were the chief leaders of the convention, 
the men to whose suggestion the constitution owes its essential features — Madi- 
son and Mason, Ranclolph and Piuckney, all of the South. The founders of the 
two great parties were neither from the North ; Hamilton was a West Indian, 
and JeflFerson, who breathed his soul into the republican party, and Madison, who 
gave it shape, were both Virginians. In the war of 1812, two Virginians, Scott 
and Harrison, drove back our foes in the North, while, a South-Carolinian 
led the Southern rifles to victory at NeAv-Orleans. All the great measures which 
have agitated the present generation, the Bank, and the Independent Treasury, 
the Internal Improvement system, the American system, and free trade, have 
been brought forth or shaped by the mind of a Calhoun or a Clay, or carried into 
practice by the iron will of a Jackson. The only Northern Presidents we have 
ever tried have been failures. The elder Adams, who came into power on the 
popularity of Washington, in two years broke down, and every vestige of his ad- 
ministration was swept away by the popular voice. His son fared no better, and 
Van Buren, who mistook cunning for wisdom, was h j^oUtician m^iQud oi a states- 
man. The prestige of Jackson's fa\'our could elect him, hut nothing could save 
him after a single trial. 

Whatever of greatness our country has attained, has been chiefly due to the 
administrative talent of Southern men, and above all, to the Southern vote, 
which, while it was yet strong enough to be heard, restrained the disposition of 
the North to convert this federal Union into a grand consolidated State, 07i the 
French model, where the numerical majority might have absolute sway. If the 
free States were to form a separate confederacy, it would soon assume this char- 
acter. The measures which, as a section, they have advocated in the present 
Union, all have that tendency. The forms of their State governments — their 
political theories — all conspire to make such a result certain. The small States 
would be deprived of their equal vote in the Senate, and speedily absorbed by 
their more powerful neighbours. All the proper woi-k of the several State legis- 
latures, as well as of private enterprise, would be thrown on the central govern- 
ment ; the States would become mere provinces, and Congress a National Assem- 
bly. In such a state there would be no safety for property. The number of 
those who want property is always greater than that of those who have it — the 
poor more numerous than the rich ; and they will certainly use their acknow- 
ledged sovereign right, as a majority, to gratify that want, and take what they 
please. The Northern plan of meeting this danger, has always been to create a 
strong moneyed interest by class legislation, by large government expenditures, 
and by patronage. Northern statesmen know that the aristocracy of birth is 
impossible ; they hope to substitute the aristocracy of money, by means of the 
funding and paper system, and by the yet more potent empire of the manufac- 
turing system. In other words, the plan is to govern the masses by the power of 
money and corruption. The evil day may be thus delayed, but the remedy in- 
creases the inequality of fortunes and the difficulties of the labouring poor. 
Their sufferings are aggravated, and their character degi'aded ; and when the 

* See " the Union," by a " Virginian." 



82 THE mSUNIONIST ; OR, 

outbreak comes — as come it ultimately must, with the accumulated force of pent- 
up waters — it is the outbreak, not of men, but' of demons^ 

While we freely admit that the whole Union is well stocked with the resources 
of intellect, it is nevertheless beyond dispute, that people of a Southern climate 
attain to maturity at an earlier age, as well in mind as in body, than do those of 
more Northern latitudes ; they possess natural genius, spirit and acuteness, at 
least equal to their neighbours of the North. And whatever may be said of the 
mental and social qualities of the people of the Northern States, as instilled into 
them brj their everlasting principles of liberty, equality, free soil, c&c, it is cer- 
tain, "that for a Avarm heart and open hand,- for sympathy of feeling, fidelity of 
friendship, and high sense of honour ; for knowledge of the sublime mechanism 
of man, and reason and eloquence to delight, to instruct and to direct him, the 
South is superior ; and when the North comes into action with the South, man 
to man, in council or in the iield, the genius of the South has prevailed, from the 
days of JelFerson to Calhoun, from Washington to Taylor. And it is to the soli- 
tude which the rural' life of the South afibrds, so favourable to reflection ; and it 
is to the elevated rural society of the South, so favourable to the study of human 
nature, tbat we must ascribe those qualities of persuasion and self-command, by 
which her statesmen and captains have moved the public councils, and won so 
many a field." 

There is another contrast to be made. It is in relation to what we may term 
the/o?-e?V/rt resources of the South and Nortli in case of their separation. What 
would be the eti'ect of that measure upon their intercourse with foreign nations, 
and with each other ? Would the South loose, or be benefitted by such a step ? 

In obtaining the friendship of foreign powers, the paramount objects are friend- 
ly intercourse and commercial exchange. If this Union were at an end, the 
Southern States would have precisely the same commodities to exchange that 
they now have. The question now comes up, would these commodities, after 
such an event, be received and exchanged for others in the same markets as at 
present ? As for European markets, we answer assuredly ; as for Northern mar- 
kets, we answer necessarily they must. 

First, for foreign markets. The popular belief is, and it may be correct, that 
if the South and North dissolve their Union, whatever may be the modus operandi 
of the dissolution, a war between thein will inevitably follow. There are then 
two views to be taken of the foreign markets, one where there is no war, one where 
there is war. If there is no war, there will be no probable change in the conduct 
of foreign nations, either towards the Southern or Northern States. 

The ministers, consuls, etc. of the present Republic, would probably vacate their 
positions in foreign courts with the best grace they can, for the very obvious rea- 
son that the government which they represent has itself been vacated. There 
would be a thorough renewal of diplomatic intercourse between these foreign 
nations and the Southern and Northern States res])ectively. Nothing that we 
know of would jtrevent such renewal on the part of the South. Every foreign 
relation would therefore remain friendly, and the South would in that respect be 
just where it is now. Hence, if there is no war, there will be no loss of foreign 
friends, no loss of foreign intercourse, foreign commerce, foreign influence. 

Now, if there is a war. In the first place, it will not be a civil war, as the 
common cry now has it, it will be a war between the North and South, then be- 
come two foreign powers ; it will be a foreign war. As much a foreign war in 
point of fact, as the wars of '76 or of 1812. Like all other nations at war, they 
would each tiy to injure the other as much as possible. The commerce of both 
belligerants would be both equally crippled ; the more the commerce of one is 
interrupted, just so much mure will that of the other be. It is a happy circum- 
stance for both parlies, that for every wound it inflicts upon the commerce of the 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 83 

other, it inflicts one also upon itself; but it will be a long time before tliev will be 
convinced of. this. Immediately upon the breaking out of the war, all shipment 
of cotton to the North, will, of course, be stopped. The cotton Victories there 
will be closed as soon as tlie stock on hand is consumed. This circumstance, ta- 
ken as an isolated fact, will have a worse etlect upon the North than the South, 
because there will be a total cessation of the cotton trade at the former, whereas 
there will be but n partial cessation at the latter, and this fallingofF would be un- 
der any circumstance occasioned by a corresponding falling off in cultivation. 
This ]>artial cessation at the South will then be no essential inconvenience. More- 
over, this universal stillness of Northern spindles, as it suspends the operations of 
England's only formidable rival, will throw the monopoly of the manufacturing 
trade into her lap — it will leave the prices at her disposal — the carrying trade at 
her command. So long as this continues, England and the other European con- 
sumers, can have no earthly objection to the longest possible continuance of the 
war. Fortunately, how'ever, the efforts of the belligerants to injure each other, 
would soon render such a state of things impossible. The whole coast, from 
Maine to the Rio Grande, would be under a state of nomi^ial blockade, each par- 
ty will declare the coast of the other to be blockaded. As long as the war goes 
on without any material interference with the British cotton trade, England must, 
through policy and interest, be a neutral in the strictest sense of the word ; for 
being a neutral, she will be able to carry the cotton and other j)roduce, both from 
the South and the North, excepting only such articles as are declared by the law 
of nations to be contraband of ivar. England will, therefore, adhere strictly to 
the law of nations, because her true policy will dictate 'feuch a course. But the 
law of n'ations, as it regards blockades, is one of those laws which are no longer 
binding than physical force rendei-s them so. The law of blockades is of such a 
nature in its operation, that in order to aj^ply it, the fact of the actual blockade 
must be established by clear and unequivocal evidence. " The squadron allotted 
for the purposes of its execution, must be competent to cut otY all communication \/ 
with the interdicted place or port." " A blockade must be existing in 2^oint of 
fact ; and, in order to constitute that existence, there must be a power present to 
enforce it.'''' " All decrees and orders declaring extensive coasts and whole coun- 
tries in a state of blockade, without the presence of an adequate naval force to 
support it, are manifestly illegal and void, and have no sanction in public law."* ' 
The definition of a blockade given by a Convention of the Baltic powers in 1780 
and in 1801, and by the United States in 1781, required that "there should be 
actually a number of vessels stationed near enough to the port to make the entry 
a2)2)arently dangerous." Now when the North attempts to blockade the South- 
ern ports from the Potomac to the Fiio Grande, it will manifestly be unable to 
enforce the blockade, or it will be able to enforce it. If it is unable to do so, we 
liave just seen it would be no violation of law or custom, for English ships to en- 
ter those poi'ts vvitli foreign produce, and to cany awav our domestic produce. 
But if the North is able to enforce the blockade, then British ships will be unable 
to carry away our cotton. The consequence will be, the greater proportion of 
the English manufacturers will be forced to susjiend business. Over four mil- 
lions of the inhabitants of Great Britain will be left without the means of sup- 
port, they consequently will revert to the care of governmental charity. The 
same will be the case with about three million on the continent. Can it be sup- 
posed that a nation like Great Britain, knowing her own interest and her true 
policy by the saddest ex})erience, and backed as slie will be by the continental 
powers, will allow such a state of things to continue ? The North and the South 
may be very good matches for each other, but it would be hard for either of them 

* See Kent's Commentaries. 



84 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

to contend with Euro]>e. in addition to the other. As far as England is concerned, 
it is too clear to be disputed, the law of nations would conflict with the law of 
self preservation, nature'' s first law. We need not question which law of these 
will prevail. England will preserve herself from the ruin thus tlirown upon her. 
What will she do? Why, inasmuch as it was the blockade Avhich brought her 
to this distress, it is the blockade which she must remove. Inasmuch as it is 
cotton she wants, it is cotton she must have. But how can she remove the l>lock- 
ade without coming in direct collision witli the power that blockades— the North. 
And after — how can she get the cotton without being at peace with the power 
that makes the cotton — the South — the slave power. She will, therefore, reason 
thus : As long as the carrying trade was left open to me by the absence of block- 
ades, I was in no respect injured, rather benefitted. Now, however, that the 
Southern ports ai'e blockaded, I not only loose the carrying trade, but I loose the 
manufacture of two millions bags of cotton! I loose the means of suj)porting 
four millions of my people! This cotton, this means of support, all comes from 
the South. My cotemporaries on the continent tell me they sutfer in like man- 
ner, they are foi'ced to come into my views, they get their cotton from tlie South 
also, they will support me in the eyes of the wide world, I ask no more, the 
\Aocki\(\.(i must be raised or England fall ! ! To think, in this emergency, will 
be to act ; and long before the retreating northern hosts shall have turned their 
spears to pruning hooks, our cotton will be turned to gold — our war to peace — 
our colonial vassalage; our tame submission, to sovereign independence. 

With regard to the Northern States, a few words will suffice to show that they 
must import from us. It is a common remark, "bow dependent the South is 
upon the North." But when the crisis comes, when the last convulsive throe is 
over, what a change will there be. Commercial and manufactui'ing interests are 
by tar the leading interests of the North, its agriculture is supported only for these 
interests. All the cotton, rice, sugar and tobacco that she imports, raanufiictpres, 
consumes or exports, comes from the South. But the importers, manufacturers, 
consumers and exporters of these four staples, constitute the great mass of her 
people, and possess the bulk of her capital. It may, therefore, be said that the 
great mass of her people depend for employment, and the bulk of her capital de- 
pends for accumulation, upon tiie supply of these four staples of Southern States. 
The South then stimulates, or rather sustains the commerce and manufactures of 
the North. But that which thus sustains the industry of a people, and yields an 
increase of capital to one class, and employment to another, must be an indispen- 
sable resource to that people. Nobody can deny that these four staples of the 
South perform this office for the people of the North. It therefore follows that 
the produce of the South is indispensable to the commercial and manufacturing 
interest, and thiough these, to the bulk of the people of the North. Or, in fewer 
words, the ))roduce of the South is the great means by which the prosperity of 
the North is sustained. If then the North consumes by its factories, domestic 
use, or otherwise derives p>rofit from, a given number of bales of cotton, barrels 
of rice, hogsheads of sugar and tobacco, in its present state of prosperity, it fol- 
lows that any material diminution in the supply of these commodities, will be 
followed by a corresponding diminution in the prosperity of the people, whose 
livelihood depends on it ; and if the Northern markets were, on account of a 
dissolution of the Union, closed against southern produce, the prosperity of that 
country would be doomed. 

In view of these facts, we adopt the opinion, that if the Union were dissolved, 
the South would not lose one dollar, either from a diminution of its foreign 
commerce, or its commerce \^ith the North. Neither will it retrograde one jot 
from that eminent degree of foreign influence which it now possesses, but which 
it is forced to share with its domestic enemy, the Northern States. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 85 

It may here be said that the same argument applies to the North, but we de- 
ny it. If the North uses cotton at all, she is compelled to use ours ; for the rea- 
son that she can get it no where else. The same applies in a less degree to other 
products. But there is no product, of national importance, raised or manufac- 
tured at the North, which the South is neojssarily compelled to use. The South 
when she becomes a separate nation from the North, will be able to manufacture 
every thing for herself which the North now manufactures for her. There is 
nothing manufactured in the free States, which can not be manufactured else- 
where. But there is that extensively produced in the slaveholding States which 
can not be produced or replaced elsewhere at remuneration prices, and ])robably, 
at any price. Thus the North has competition to contend with, whilst the South 
has a natural monopoly to rely on. This monopoly judiciously controled can 
never be a disadvantage. 

We would not be understood to argue, that after dissolution the South should 
not continue to import from the North ; that would depend on circumstances as 
they may iheu exist. We simply mean to say that if she does, she does it not 
through necessity, but through choice. And as the doctrines of " free trade and 
low duties j" seem to be becoming more and more in vogue, we think it a nice 
question, whether, upon the whole a dissolution of the Union would not prove a 
decided advantage to the South, in a commercial point of view, at least. 



CHAPTER XL 

" Grim visaged war lias smoothed his wrinkled front." 

As regards the relative strength in population of the' two sections, we of 
course, must acknowledge the North to have a great advantage in mimbers. The 
free population of the North was, according to the census of 1840, 9,803,2*73, 
and that of the South 4,733,703.* But this circumstance can have no bearing 
on the point in view, unless the two sections in dissolving their pohtical connec- 
tion, come to open war. Let us then see how the matter stands in this respect. 

At the last presidential election there were 2,043,528 votes polled in the free 
States,f and 832,5 93 in the slaveholding States.;]: Now if this is a fair exponent 
of the number of effective citizens in the two sections, or of the ratio of those 
numbers, we may without any material error take it as a basis upon which to rest 
our conjectures ; and, by a reference to statistics, it will be found that this pro- 
portion has been kept up, more or less exactly, for the last tifteen years, to wit : 
the votes at Pi'esidential elections in the free States, have been to those in the 
slave States as 2^ to 1 ; and, since the election of 1836, there has been, du- 
ring every period of four years, an average increase at the North of 320,244-^ 
votes, and at the South 1 38,834^ votes. ' Taking this ratio to be as correct as any 
which can be derived from authentic sources, there will not probably be any 
practical error in adopting it as the ratio of the number of effective fighting men 
residing in these respective sections. All other considerations being for the pre- 
sent thrown out of view, it may then be said, that, merely ivith respect to numbers, 
where the South possesses a force of 100,000 men, the North possesses 250,000. 

* The District of Columbia not included, 
f See American Almanac. 

j In this the vote of South-Carolina is not included, the electors being elected by the Le- 
gislature. 



86 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

This difference is not of pviraaiy importance, for in moderri warfare numbers are 
not a decideratum. The battle is not always to the strong, nor the race to the 
swift. It remains for us to see whether ihe two sections could bring into the field 
armies whose numbers bear that ratio; and, if they could, whether the military 
qualifications of the opposing forces would be equally good or not; and, if not, 
on whose side the advantage in this material I'espect would rest. It is also to be 
seen which section could with least inconvenience bear the enormous expense of 
such a war ; for of all public expenditui'es, those of war are the greatest and most 
ruinous, to the party defeated. The iVmerican Revolution cost Great Britain 
$680,000,000. The French Revolution of nine years, cost $2,320,000,000. The 
wars with Napoleon, during twelve years, cost $5,795,000,000 — more than a 
million a day ! The wars that raged in Europe from 1793 to 1815, only tiventy- 
two years, cost $15,000,000,000. The French war with Algiers, for sixteen 
years, cost $320,000,000, or $'-'0,000,000 per annum. The "Florida war cost 
$42,000,000. 

We will not here undertake to give an opinion on these matters, for it is more 
than probable the question could never be decided, except by actual experiment ; 
and it is possible there may never be any necessity for a decision upon* it. It will, 
therefore, be sufficient for our purpose, to lay open such facts and considerations 
as we are cognizant of, and leave the reader to form his own opinion on the sub- 
ject, entreating him always to remember, what a vast difference there is between 
voting and fighting, between voting down the South and fighting down the 
South. The only analogy between the ballot and the rifle is, that each can be 
aimed by but one man at a time. One superior bayonet may transfix a dozen 
voters. In the first i)lace, then, as to militauy fixtures. There are 8 arsenals 
and 26 military posts belonging to the Federal Government in the free States; 
there arc 9 arsenals and 33 military posts in the slave States.* It is believed 
that though the South has the greater numl)er, the defences of the North are 
in several instances superior to those of the South. The partiality of the Federal 
Government in making appropriations for the defences of the Northern Atlantic 
coast, can not have failed to render them so. The South, however, has some of 
its chief stratagetic points well defended. The harbour of Pensacola was, in 
1846, regarded as "the oiily harbour in the United States where the system for 
its defence, by sea and by land, was comj)lete." But there are other points of 
no less importance wholly undefended. The dry Tortugas, Key West, and Key 
Biscayne, have been pronounced, by the most competent judges, to be " the great 
stratagetic points on the Southern fi'ontier," yet they are not diift-iidcd. Their 
defence, however, has been strongly urged, and an estimate of the costs has been 
made by officers of the scientific engineers. The result of their calculation is, that 
for about one-sixth the value of the annual exports of Mobile, or one-twentieth of 
those of New-Orleans, for the sum of $3,000,000 to $3,500,000, the military 
defences of the Gulf coast could not only be completed, but that the Tortugas 
could be rendered " impregnable to assault, and nearly impracticable of block- 
ade ;" and, in an emergency, a well appointed garrison " would be able to dic- 
tate the terms of peace from the Fortress of the Tortugas," to the strongest foe. 
As to the MILITARY HISTORY of the people of the two sections, we have but im- 
perfect data upon which to base an opinion. It is true, we have on record the 
valorous deeds of our ancestors in the Revolution of "76. We have fliithful ac- 
counts of their vigilance, privations and endurance, in their earls struggles with 
the Indians. We have living heroes of more recent occasions, but we have no 
positive evidence as to what should be expected in the event of a war between the 
South and the North. We know, from good authority, the Secretary of war in 

* See American Alnuuiac and Army Register. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 87 

1790,* and give it for what it is worth, that in the revohitionary campaign of 
177G, the five Southern States furnished 22,013 iniHtia men for the common de- 
fence, and tlie eight Northern States furnislied 67,638. Of those from the North, 
8,000 enhsted for but four months, whilst 7,000 from the CaroHnas alone, ave- 
raged 6 and 8 months. 

In 1777, the South furnished 24,032 men, and the North furnished 44,688. 
The shortest enhstments were from New-Enghmd, over 6,000 enhsting for but 
two months, and the longest from New- York and South-Carolina, the men from 
the latter serving eight months. 

In 1778, the^South furnished 20,033 men, and the North 31,019. Here, we 
again find the greatest number of shortest enlistments from New-England, and 
the greatest number of longest enlistments from Southern States. Georgia fur- 
nished 2,000 men for six months, /o?t?- times as many men, to serve three times 
as long as those from New-Hampshire. 

In 1779, the South furnished 20,679 jnen, and the North but 20,905. In this 
campaign the longest enlistments were from Virginia, North and South-Carolina, 
being respectively 6, 8 and 9 months. 

In 1780, the anfortanate and imbecile South, notwithstanding the unpar- 
donable sin of holding upwards of 500,000 Africans in bondage, furnished 
26,187 men, whilst the North furnished but 16,639 — less than was ever fur- 
nished by the South, even when the war was altogether at the North. From 
this year to the close of the war, the South furnished more than half of those who 
fought, and the Southern troops invariably enlisted for a longer period than the 
Northern. Now if any thing is to be deducted from these facts, we may safely 
infer, from the length of their enlistments, that the Southern mihtia endured 
more of the hardships, and suffered more of the privations of war than their 
Northern co-patriots. We v.'ill, however, leave these facts with the reader for his 
consideration, and will bid adieu to the venerated etibrts of our revolutionary 
sires, after inserting this remark. " Supposing the average period of enlistment 
for all the years to be about the same, North and South, (which will be favouring 
the North,) it will be seen that in the first years of the revolution, when the war 
was chiefly at the North, the Southern States supplied, each year, about one-third 
of the whole number of enlistments ; as soon, however, as the war extended 
southward, and became general, the Southern States rapidly advance, supplying 
one half, and for 1780, '81 and '82, more than one half of all the enlistments." 

Let us now see how the monied contributions compare :f 
Virginia contributed to the expense of the war, - . - $9,085,982 
New-York u u u ... 7,179,983 

South-Carohna " (according to this writer,) - - - 11,523,229 

(But, according to Winterbotham, over $13,000,000.) 
The seven free States united,^ contributed .... $61,971,170 
The six slave States " " * . . . . 52,438,123 

We will not detain the reader, to tell him how the North has feasted on revo- 
lutionary pensions since the imr. We will merely assure him that the State of 
New-York has received in 'pensions to its citizens nearly 700,000 dollars more 
than it contributed during the whole war. 

The part taken in the revolution by the different States, afl^brds, however, but 
httle ground upon which any surmise can be made at the present day. The 
Mexican war being a recent one, as well as a foreign war, will perliaps be a better 
guide. The following facts in relation to it are authentic. During this war, 
which, being a foreign war, it was not in the power of the President to order out 
.the militia, and therefore no citizen need take part in it, except it be his voluntary 

* See Commercial Review, 1848. f "■The Union," by a Virginian. 

1 Callincr Delaware a slave State. 



88 THE disunionist; or, 

act — the State of New-York, with its tivo million six hundred thousand free- 
men, (in 1845,) furnished but 1,690 men ; while the State of Louisiana, with 
but 352,411 inhabitants, (in 1840,) of which 168,450, nearly half were slaves, 
furnished 7,041 men; of which one particular corps — a battery of light artille- 
ry — was pronounced equally as efficient as any in the regular army. Now al- 
lowing a greater increase in five years than previous increments would warrant, 
in the population of Louisiana, there could not not have been more than 230,000 
free inhabitants in the State in 1845. Then taking the population in 1845 as 
the surest basis for comparison, we say that in order for New-York to be on a 
par with Louisiana, in the voluntary contribution by her citizens of their lives 
and services, for the vindication of their countries honor in a foreign land, she 
should have sent at least 79,593 men. For, as 230,000 (inhabitants of Loui- 
siana,) is to 2,600,000 (inhabitants of New- York,) so is 7,041 (volunteers from 
Louisiana,) to 79,593 (volunteers due from New-York — more than forty-seven 
times as many as were actually sent. 

The six New-England States, wherein the sublime spirit of liberty is totally 
uncontaminated by the debasing influence of slavery. These six States, wliose 
yearning after universal freedom and equality, excites the admiration of the world. 
These six States, whose chivalrous emulation of the South ennobles their every act. 
These six States, with a population (in 1840,) of 2,234,812 inhabitants, free as 
air, sent the enormous force of nine hundred and thirty men ! While the 
six States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee and Missouri^ 
with a population (in 1840,) of 2,003,684 free inhabitants, owing we suppose 
to their miserable degradation in holding at that very time no less than 1,139,438 
Africans in slavery, owing also perhaps to the imbecility, laziness and efteminacy 
of southern men, were so lukewarm to their countries appeal, as to send the 
small force of but twenty-six thousand and eighty-five men. Then taking the 
population of 1840 as a basis of comparison, we state the proportion, as 
2,083,684, (population of these six Southern States,) is to 2,234,812, (popula- 
tion of New England,) so is 26,085, (volunteers from the six Southern States,) to 
28,248, (volunteers that should have been sent by New-England,) more than 
thirty times as many as were actually sent. If the population of 1840 should 
be objected to as a basis of comparison, let us suppose that the population of the 
six Southern States had increased in so much greater a proportion than that of 
the New-England States, as to be equal to the latter ; it will still be found that 
the SIX Southern States furnished more than twenty-eight times as many as New- 
England ; and, if desired, we will add the slaves to the free population, and even 
counting them among the citizens, the pro})ortion will still be about eighteen 
times in favour of the Southern States. 

All the free States together, sent 22,136 men 

slaves States,' " ".-... 43,213 '^ 

The population of the free States, was (in 1840,) - - - 9,803,273 
" slave States, " " ... 4,733,707 

Then as 4,733,707 is to 9,803,273, so is 43,213 to 89,491, the number of 
volunteers that should have been sent by the North, in order to have contributed 
as many as the South, and which is four times as many as were actually sent.* 
Each of the fourteen slaveholding States contributed men to conduct the war. 
But out of the sixteen non-slaveholding States, there were six from which not one 
man ivas^sent, nor a dollar contributed. 

The first regiment of Tennessee volunteers numbered 1,000 when it went to 
Mexico ; when it returned, it numbered 350, an average loss of 50 men per 
month. • The North-Carolina regiment was reduced one fifth in tw^o months. The 

* ^11 these uimibers are derived from iwrt/wrn authority. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 89 

Mississippi regiment had some companies reduced from 90 to 30 in a few weeks. 
Out of 400 men, in a battalion from Georgia, there were, at one time, only 40 
fit for duty, the rest being sick or wounded, in the hospitals. The South-Caro- 
lins regiment, of 1,100, had, at the end of nine months, only 80 or 90 remaining 
to enter with Scott the city of Mexico. " The destruction of life in Napoleon's 
march to Moscow did not equal this." Can such troops be conquered ? Can such 
people be subdued ? Have not the veterans of Waterloo, the troops of Welling- 
ton, been conquered by Southern rifles, lead by Southern generals ? Of a truth, 
such men may be outwitted in politics, they may be defeated in civil wars of 
words, but once rouse them, once place them on the tented field, and victory is 
perched upon their brow, or death is seated on their lips. They never can be 
conquered, for they never will submit. Their spirit is indomitable, their cause 
good, their hope eternal. 

As to the natural milifan/ spirit and predilection of the two people, we be- 
live there can be but little ditticultyin reaching a definite conclusion. A strict 
obedience to the laws of discipline is the first requisite of the modern soldier, 
and we have already observed that this very institution of slavery cariies with 
it a radiating power, one that is calculated to create in the breast *of the mas- 
ter as well as the slave, the mere resident as well as the slaveholder, a just ap- 
preciation of the great virtues of discipline. Wherever a people is noted for 
love of order and obedience to law, it is from among them we must procure 
troops, if we would have such as can be relied on in the most des])erate emer- 
gency. From a people who are given to disorder, riots and rebellion, soldiers 
can only be had while the sun shines and the pay lasts. But when we add 
to the good discipline of our citizens, the peculiar nature of our laws arising 
out of our domestic institutions, and the familiarity of almost every Southern 
man, from early childhood, with the use of weapons and the vicissitudes of his 
forest sports, we cannot but endorse the remark that, " our laws and habits 
tend to make almost every individual a disciplined and efi^ective soldier. A 
large number, and indeed, most of the inhabitants of the South and West are 
trained from their earliest youth to the use of arms. Their pursuits and mocfe 
of life render them skilful in manly exercises and capable of enduring fatigue. 
These qualities joined to their proverbial love of country, create a spirit with- 
in them, which, once aroused, never could be conquered."* This opinion is 
confirmed in every quarter, and by the statistics of the country. The South, 
with a free population of less than half that of the North, and a community 
of electors tivo and a half times less than the North, has at this moment a 
militia organization hy far more than Jialf as numerous as that of the North. 
There are 1,151,756 men in the militia of the free States, and 702,445 in that 
of the slave States.f A proportion of about 7 South to 11 North, whereas, 
to be comparatively equal, the North should have at least 15 to every 7 of the 
South. Compare, now, the following number of free inhabitants, electors and 
citizen soldiers in the two sections respectively. 

Population, (1840.) Electors at last Election. Militia force. 

The North, 9,803,273 2,043,528, about twice the 1,151,756 

The South, 4,733,707 832,593, little more than 762,345 

Comf)are these numbers as you please, it speaks well for the South, and we 
will soon take occasion to show why it is our militia is comparatively so much 
more numerous. 

* Com. Rev. 1846. f American Almanac. 



90 ' THE disunionist; or, 

A good test of the spirit of any community in any one department of life, 
is the desire of individuals for advancement in that department. In accord- 
ance with this principle, if we find the high affices in the military department 
in o-reater demand in one country than in anotlier, especially luhen the organi- 
zation in the two is regulated by the same laws, we must conclude that there is 
more military spirit in that country where the officers are in greatest demand. 
We have already seen how the rank and file of the militia compares; let us 
now compare the number of commissioned officers. In the slaveholding States 
there are 38,845, in the free States there are only 30,658 ; but to bea,r the 
same comparison to the rank and file as the Southern officers do, there should 
be over 70,000 commissioned otBcers in the Northern militia. -Upon investi- 
gation it is found that one great reason for this discrepancy exists in the fact 
that at the North the " staf offices," are many of them vacant, and others so 
little in demand as to be with difficulty filled ; whereas, at the South, they are 
in such estimation tliat they are no sooner vacated than they are occupied 
a"-ain. Nor can it be said that there is too great a proportion of officers to 
men in the Southern militia, for when it is remembered that a considerable 
number of these are staff officers, and the country in profound peace, it will 
be conceded tliat the " officers of the line" are in very just proportion to the 
rank and file. On tiie contrary, it must be admitted by the Nortii that there 
is a great deficiency in her ranks. But if more conclusive evidence is desired 
of the superior military spirit of the South, we have simply to be reminded of 
the fact, that there are three flourishing State Military Academies at the South, 
at which about 300 cadets are annually engaged, whilst there is not 07ie insti- 
tution of the kind at the North.* 

Now, when we consider that war is no longer a trial of physical strength, but 
is reduced to a contest of scientific skill. When it is known that every year 
about seventy young men are graduated liy these schools exclusively for the 
South, and that the number is annually incrAisiug,f we think the Southern 
States may feel satisfied with their resources in this respect, and need not 
skrink from a comparison, or a contest whenever necessary, of their citizen 
soldiery with the Northern hosts. There is one portion of the North, whose 
history has a peculiarly peaceful cast, and whose citizen soldiery, since the days 
of the revolution, seems to have fallen into a Vanwinkltan slumber, only to 
be aroused on such occasions as a " revieiv" by Ge'neral Jackson and "Major 
DowA^iNG, of the DowNiNGViLLE MiLiTiA, 2d Brigade." The people of New- 
England are not a warlike people, they are a pious people ; a good people ; a 
thrifty people ; a smart people ; a free people ; a charitable, a business peo- 
ple ; a rich people ; a sagacious people ; a tolerating people ; an orderly peo- 
ple ; a prosperous people ; a happy people ; a virtuous people ; a patriotic 
people ; a voting people ; a powerful people ; but they are not a fighting peo- 
ple, not a warlike people ; for these latter they have neither taste nor predilec- 
tion. Single out the wealthy State of Massachusetts, the soul of New-En- 
gland, the pride of the Republic. Pass in review some of her military exploits 
since the Revolution — for we would not class Massachusetts then, with I\Iassa- 
chusetts since — where was the spirit of Bunker Hill in 1812 ? Massachusetts, 
who owned one third of all the navigation, and furnished one half of all the 
seamen in the Union. Massachusetts, whose sons were forcibly drafted into 
the service of her avowed enemy ; Massachusetts, who so proudly teok the 
lead against this same enemy but a span before. Where was she now? " With 

* Tlie Military Academy at West Point is a National School, it belongs neither to the 
North nor the South, 

f One in Virginia, one in South-Carolina, one in Kentucky. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDTT. 91 

one eye upon Bunker''s Hill, and the other upon Yorktown, she lauded King 
George, the third, and calumniated Madison ; and when she found that 
her efforts to arrest the war jiroved abortive, she sent one portion of her children 
to plot a dissolution of the Uiiion,* and another to her waterfalls to supplant 
her beloved friend in mamifactures." Massachusetts, by a solemn act of her 
legishiture, condemned the war of 1812, and when, on the 13th of June, 1813, 
a proposition was introduced before her Senate approving the noble conduct 
of one of her own sons — the brave commander of the "Hornet," in the de- 
struction of the British ship " Peacock,"-]- — she refused to act on the propo- 
sition, because the good people of that Commonwealth considered the war an 
iinjust, unnecessary and iniquitous 'war. The Senate of Massachusetts re- 
solved, " that in a war like the j^^esenl, icayed tvithout justifiable cause, and 
prosecuted in a ma>.ner which indicates that conquest and ambition are its real 
motives, it is not becoyniny a moral and reliyious 'people to express any approba- 
tion of military or naval exploits, which are not immediately connected with our 
sea coast and soil." This is a specimen of New-England's martial demeanor 
in the war of 1812. What was it in the Mexican war? 

The Legislature of Massachusetts, in a series of resolutions, declares the 
war with Mexico to be "hateful in its oljjects, wanton, unjust, and unconsti- 
tutional." " A war against freedom, humanit\', and justice, against the Union, 
the Constitution, and against the free States." That all good citizens should 
endeavour " to correct this gigantic crime, by withholding supplies, or other 
voluntary' contribution for its further prosecution, by calling for the withdrawal 
of our arinif, &c., <k;c. What absurdity. Our army ! Massachusetts have 
an army ( Her army ? Was the army that won the day at Buena Vista, and 
scattered the Mexican troops to the four winds of the earth, indebted to Mas- 
sachusetts for a single man, a single dollar ? If it was, tiie more shame on 
Massachusetts, for her ungrateful course, when a member from' Boston offered 
resolutions of thanks to the General, and the officers and soldiers under him, 
for such unparalleled success. Shame on her, for her Senate rejected the reso- 
lutions which passed the house only after much wrangling and dispute. These 
were resolutions ; here is one of the acts of Massachusetts in relation to our 
army. When one of her patriotic citizens had, after much exertion organized 
a regiment of volunteers in her own limits for the Mexican war — said to be' 
the first that State ever sent forth fi-om her own borders to meet the enemies 
of her country — and a slight and temporar}' assistance was solicited from 
this wealthy State, until the regiment could })e mustered into service ; she, 
true to her resolutions, refused to grant a cent and was deaf to the indignant 
cry of patriotism and honour, even when it arose within her own contracted 
limits. So much for Massachusetts, the same for the other States of New- 
England. Is it not amazing that these States which prize the Union so much, 
that they denounce the consultation of Southern States to be a plot for disu- 
nion, still, some of them have never struck a willing blow in defence of the 
Union. It is because of these facts that we say the people of New-England 
are not a warlike people. 

A few words on the means of supporting a war. Not all the ingenuity of 
man has ever yet been able to make war a cheap business. None of the multi- 
fareous inventions of our Northern inventors have ever served to eliminate the ex- 
penses of war. If then a war is destined to arise between the South and the North, 
both parties must expect to pay well for their materials. We have only to see 
which of the two can l)e the highest bidder. 

* Tlie famous Hartford Convention 
f Ciiptaiii James Lawrence. 



92 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

111 such a war, the productive industry of the South would not be called 
upon in any new capacity, it would still be productive. At the North, the 
productive industry would not only cease to be pi'oductive, but would be 
changed into consuming industry. Our cotton would still grow, her spindles 
would cease to revolve. Our slaves would still produce, her operatives would 
only consume. Our income would still support us, her income would be 
wrested from her. While our fields are cultivated, her ships would be dis- 
mantled in her ports. Our credit would be high, hers would be prostrated. 
If we incur a deljt we would soon pay it, as experience shows, if she incurs 
one it would not only be a large one, for the reasons above set forth, but she 
will be a great deal longer paying it. With us the stake would be victory or 
death, inevitable death ; with her it would be victory or defeat, disgrace. We 
will be united in a common cause, she would be disunited, New-England 
would certainly derange her harmony. Our cause would be sacred, hers in- 
famous. We would have the sympathy of enlightened nations, she their con- 
tempt. We would be the defender, she the aggressor. And what is more cer- 
tain, we would be the Victors in the end, she the bankrupt. In the first scram- 
ble ibr spoils we would assuredly get all posts and arsenals in our limits, she 
those in hers. In the breaking up of the army of the United States, our 
chances are as good as hers, the same for the navif : the officers in these 
branches of service, are gentlemen of high toned honor, they are contamina- 
ted with none of the sectional prejudices of civil life, they have no sympathy 
with abolitionism. They will each act, in such an event, on their individual 
responsibilty, they will either side willi that section which has justice on its 
side, or they will go to their homes to defend the soil of their birth and of 
their father's ashes. Out of our 762,000 militia we could spare three or four 
hundred thousand, without cultivating a bag of cotton the less for it ; out of 
her 1,151,000 militia the North could not take 100,000 without diminishing her 
productive industry. But we would not require more than 100,000, the North 
could not well support a larger force. When men are fighting foi- their homes, 
their lives, their honour, their wives, their children, and their slaves, they re- 
quire but little pa}^ they will fight lor a tenth of the wages of those who fight 
merely because they hear their political leaders say they ought to fight. We 
would be such men as the former, the North would send such men as the lat- 
ter ; we would be content with victory, they must have an inducement. Such 
a war would perhaps be a long one, the longer it continued the greater would 
be the loss of tiio North. We, with absolute certainty, could " muster into 
the field an army five times as large as Bonaparte conquered half of Europe 
with, five times as large as Alexander conquered the world with, and larger 
than any nation upon the face of the globe ever carried to the field, save one ; 
and that one was whipped by a little band, no larger than the Texas Rangers." 
It would be folly for the North to presume on her numbers, a few words will 
show it. If she attempts to invade us, she will be compelled to have an enor- 
mous force in her service, she will not only have an army of invasion in one 
quarter, or another in another, but she must have her ports defended and her 
Southern frontier towns garrisoned ; her operations must be divided into two 
grand departments, those on the Atlantic slope and those in the Mississippi 
valley, and the operations of these two armies will necessarily be in a great 
measure independent of each other. To supply these armies, and to defend 
their base lines will require not less than 100,000 men, for with less than that 
their campaign would be child's play. What then would this force cost? At 
the lotvest jjossible calculation, placing every expenditure lower than any pre- 
vious war would authorize. To organize and equip such a force would con- 
sume ^1,000,000 per day. The first two months would be consumed in col- 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 93 

lecting and drilling recruits, arranging outfits, and such other preliminary bu- 
siness, the next two would elapse before a shot cold be fired to any effect. 
These four months, at the lowest estimate of outlay in arms, accoiirtrements, 
waggons, horses, &,c., &c., besides the pay of the troops, the ordnance ex- 
penses, &c., would cost $=200,000,000. The rest of the campaio-n would com- 
plete the total amount of 365,000,000 of dollars. But it could not be ex- 
pected that we would be conquered in one campaign. And as we were not 
conquered in that one, with 100,000 men, perhaps the next year there would 
be 150,000 against us. They would cost, at the same low rate, 547,500,000 
dollars. If by good luck we should escape subjugation that year, the next 
would be like unto it, viz : -$547,500,000, and no conquest. Thus, in three 
years the North will have assumed a debt of 11,400,000,000. If she could 
not at the end of these three years whip xis back into the glorious Union, de- 
pend upon it, she will not be able to do it in the next three. She must then 
either give up the chase, or commence another three years seige. But by this 
time her expenses will have augmented in proportion to her forces, the price 
of supplies will have risen as they invariably do under like circumstances, 
these three years will then cost her about |;2,d00,000,000, which being added 
to the costs of the first three years, makes the neat little sum of $4,460,000,00 ! 
And the South not luhijH yet ! ! Where under heavens will the North' get the 
money to pay this debt? California, to be sure, is a land of gold, but the 
North will learn by sad experience that California gold will find its way to 
other countries than those embroiled in wars. The North will evidently not 
have the means of supporting such an army, and as the South is equally able 
to support an army within this limit as the North, it follows that it is folly for 
the North to presume on its superior numbers. We will always be able to 
meet her man for man, dollar for dollar, however long the war may last. But, 
it will be urged, the Southern ports will be blockaded and no cotton will be 
shipped ; that matter admits of no doubt, we have discussed it already a few 
pages back. Then comes up the old cry of" our internal foes," insurrections, 
rebellions, treasons, stratagems and spoils. But it is a last lingering hope. It 
is absurd. " No people profoundly ignorant of government, with no settled 
rights of property, with no means of defence, with no means of subsistence, 
with no confidence of security, could gain or hope to gain any thing by fling- 
ing off their vassalage. Negroes know this, or what is the same thing, instinct 
teaches it to them." Now comes the " dernier resort," the slave would be 
emancipated and won over to the North. This supposition is more childish 
than the other. The Northern troops would perhaps carry off some, but they 
would soon be tired of the game. And even admitting, for the sake of argu- 
ment, that they persisted in the scheme. How many slaves is it supposed will 
be annually abducted. Perhaps the most inveterate abolitionist would be sa- 
tisfied to get 50,000 a year, well we will double it; we will suppose 100,000 
were annually carried off. Then supposing the yankees foolish enough to 
keep up the war six years, the}- would at the end of that time have stolen 
600,000. We now have over 3,000,000 slaves, after these 600,000 were ta- 
ken, we would have 2,400,000 left. Almost exactly the number we had in 
1840. The natural increase during these six years would replace at least 
300,000, we would then have a total sum of 2,700,000. The number we had 
in 1843. The effect of the war then would be to put us back to where we 
were in 1843, except, that instead of having to assist in the support of the 
North, we would be a distinct nation, with a remodeled government and no 
more compromises on the public mind. We would have a public debt to be 
sure, but before the North will have paid the interest of hers, ours will be en- 
tirely cancelled. 



94 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 



CHAPTER XII. 

" When devils will their blackest sins put on, 
They do suggest at first with heavenly shows." 

It seems to be impossible for man to preserve either mediocrity or moderation 
in any thing to which he sets his hands. From his primitive state, down to his 
present overstrained degree of nice refinement, he is constantly plnnging head- 
lono- into some extremity, or wantonly falling into some futile hallucination. 
Havino- always to reproach himself for his own sin and folly, he expiates his 
crimes by ascribing to his neighbour those of a more heinous nature. If, by any 
possibility, he becomes convinced of his error, lie can readily account for it in the 
conduct- of his neio-hbour. If he is accidentally rescued from the ridiculous 
fantasies of one extreme, reaction hurries him into the grosser absurdities of 
another. There is no falsehood so gross that he will not believe it ; no truth so 
clear that he will not doubt it ; no bigotry which cannot enslave his intellect ; 
no subterfuo-e to which he cannot descend ; no meanness of which he is not 
capable. There is no trust he will not abuse ; no confidence he will not betray ; 
no truth he will not pervert, no virtue he will not disgrace. In the conduct and 
languao-e, the theory and object of abolitionists, both in England and America, 
these truths are forcibly confirmed. Whilst, in America, the abolition of African 
slavery is yet unaccomplished, in the Ih-itish realm the accomplishment of it is 
comi)lete ; and a summary of the measures adopted and principles involved in 
that transaction aftbrds food for reflection to every Southern man. 

In America, African slavery originated in precisely the same way as it origina- 
ted in all the British colonies — it has ever been practised on the ^^ame fundamen- 
tal principles as in the British colonies, and, */ it is ever aholidicd by the decree 
of government, it will he done in a similar manner, and it ivill arise from similar 
causes, to those which loe have witnessed in the British government. It may, 
then, be interesting and instructive to review the chief proceedings of the aboli- 
tion party in that "government, and see what bearing they have on the present 
position of atlairs in ours. On this subject we had intended to devote three 
chapters, under the three lieads of the abolition of the rjght of property in slaves 
in England, the abolition of the slave trade, and the abolition of slavery in the 
British colonies. But, as we have already trespassed so much on the reader's 
time and patience, we will abridge our remarks, and condense them into one 
chapter. 

We know with what avidity the most trifling aft'airs of domestic economy, and 
even the ordinary matters of national policy, are commingled wnth doctrines of 
the Christian Church, by busy-body, gossiping church-women, and priest-ridden 
church-men. We know, too, that to every action of man his Divine Autlior is 
pi-ivy, and that it is contrary to the requirement of that universal Author, that 
every matter of politics should be mixed up and confounded with religion. And 
we also know that no subject is better calculated to excite men's minds than 
relio-ious controversy ; no conviction so immutable as religious conviction ; no 
bio-otry so unconquerable as church bigotry ; no animosity so cordial as church 
animo'sitv. There is, consequently, no instrument in the hands of a political 
fanatic so powerful as religion, which he can so easily distort. It can, then, be 
matter of little surprise, to find that, Avhenever a question of political expediency 
can, by any possibility, be in any way whatever linked together, confounded with, 
or distorted into a question of religious expediency, it is invariably done. It is 
in keeping with these truths, that abolitionists are everywhere found to be the 
weak dupes of reli^ous bigotry, the ignorant victims of prejudiced education, 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 95 

the mean-souled sharper, wlio, feeling envy to be the cause, ascribes humanity as 
the- motive of his creed, or else the crazy enthusiast, whose empty ravings are 
repulsive to every ear. It was from such as these that the world was taught, a 
hundred years ago, that slavery was a sin, and, being such, should be aboHshed 
in every christian land. All the invective of christian Europe having been ex- 
hausted, the streams of church controversy having run dry, the numberless vic- 
•tims of religious persecution, arising out of the reformation, having been exter- 
minated, and every possible mode of testifying by their actions the workino- of the 
spirit among them being tried, the good people of England tasked their ingenuity 
to find an object of solicitude and pious care, upon which to lavish their christian 
counsels and admonition. They were not long in finding the object of their 
search. It was a darling morsel, an Eiigllsh article, the produce of Eno-Hsh 
skill and ingenuity, a specimen of English manufacture — it was African slaveiy. 
It was forthwith discovered to be a sin, from beginning to end, and all true-hearted 
Englishmen must needs set about to exyiate the crime of their fathers, who 
introduced the system. How this was done, we are informed from a variety of 
sources. 

It has already been shown that Great Britain, at the time when the slave trade 
flourished most, was by far the greatest importer of slaves from Africa, conse- 
quently, the greatest promoter of the slave trade in the world. Now, we have 
no room to doubt that this trade was the subject of the most cruel abuses, and, 
had it not been made the pretext to European adventurers, for every kind of 
piracy and wrong in Africa, it is probable it would be an approved traffic to this 
day. Be this, however, as it may, it is certain it was th^ first department of the 
system which was attacked by abolitionists, as a combined jiarty. 

Anterior to the year 1670, African slavery seems never to have received the 
direct attention of abolitionists ; but between that year and 1G80 there seems to 
have been a few individuals disposed to notice the subject. The first publication 
in relation to the subject, which ever appeared in England, was a treatise, written 
by a clergyman of the Church of England, called " The Negroes' and Indians' 
Advocate." This drew out another, from a non-conformist clergyman, called the 
" Christian Directory." And these were followed by others. They aftbixl evi- 
dence that the abuses of the slave trade began to be talked of, among the clerriy^ 
at any rate. But the first glirnmering of the light of abolitionism seems to have 
fallen on the society of Friends or Quakers. This society seems evidently 
entitled to the claim of having conceived, and duly brought forth, the idea of sin 
in slavery. About the time the abovementioned publications were comino- be- 
fore the Englisii public, the Quaker people, in some of the West India Islands, 
began to prate so freely with the negroes, about their peculiar notions of equality, 
etc., that these uninformed creatures were seduced from the path of duty, aiid 
had to be punished. The cause of their miscondi^ct was, however, traced to the 
teachings of the Quakers. So that, in 1676, an act was passed in Barbadoes, 
entitled " An Act, to prevent the people called Quakers from bringing their ne- 
groes into their meetings." In 1680, it became necessary for the governor of the 
island to '• prohibit all meetings of this society." On the island of Nevis, as 
early as 1661, a law was passed, prohibiting Quakers from coming on shore, and, 
in 1677, another act was passed, laying a heavy penalty on every master of • a 
vessel who should even bring a Quaker to the island. lu Antigua and Bermuda 
similar laws were established.* 

In the year 1688; a collection of Quakers assembled together in Pennsvlvania, 
and, without being informed by what succession of inspired thought, or what 
process of profound reasoning they obtained the knowledge, yet we do know that 

* See Clarkson on slavery. 



96 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

these very Quakers, having gM-avely assembled and met together, did seriously 
consider, and, with one accord, demurely agree upon urging among their fellow 
Quakers " the inconsistency of buying, seUing and holding men in slavery, with 
the principles of the christian religion." In 1696, the same collection again met 
together, and again urged the same inconsistency, and, in addition thereunto, they 
did meekly exhort all true and faithful Friends and Quakers, from that day forth, 
even unto all futurity, piously to refrain from ever purchasing an African slave^ 
and, over and above all other virtues, it was devoutly suggested — not to liberate 
those in bondage — " but to treat with great humanity those already in their pos- 
session." In 1754, about 58 years after the last mentioned gathering, by which 
time they could easily dispense with the few old negroes still surviving in their 
'possession, they issued a most ^^('we?/«Z appeal, to christians of all denominations, 
entreating them, " in the bowels of ffospel love, seriously to weigh the cause of 
detaining them (their slaves) in bondage." In 1776, it was enacted, ''that the 
owners of slaves, who refused to execute proper instruments for giving them their 
freedom, were to be disowned." In f778, it was enacted by the same meeting, 
"that the children of those who had been set free by members should be tenderly 
advised and have a suitable education given thcyn^ We have not been credibly 
informed whether those children, thus teriderly advised and suitably educated, were 
the ancestors of the present generation of sable brothers in Philadelphia or not. 
In 1774, a society was formed, called "The Pennsylvania Society, for promoting 
the abolition of slavery, and the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in bondage." 
In 1787, this society was considerably enlarged, and its influence greatly increased. 
In 1789, " The Providence Society, for promoting the abolition of slavery, for the 
relief of persons unlawfully held in bondage, and for improving the condition of 
the African race," was established, and was incorporated the following year. It 
originally consisted of one hundred and fifty members, among whom were several 
humane gentlemen from Massachusetts. In the city of New-York, about the year 
1790, "The Society for the manumission of slaves, and protecting such of them 
as have been, or may be, hberated " was eitablished ; and had stated quarterly 
meetings. 

In the year 1727, the whole society of Quakers held a meet'ng in London, 
and passed a general resolution, "That the importation of negroes from their 
native country, by Quakers, is not a commendable nor allowed practice, and is 
therefore censured by this meeting." Sundry other meetings were held, and a 
great variety of resolutions and addresses, aimed at the entire system of slavery, 
but chiefly the slave trade, were the result. These proceedings, as yet, had no 
visible e&ect. The slave trade was carried on as extensively as ever ; but, when 
the American Revolution broke out it was considerably decreased. British ships, 
transporting slaves, were exposed to the attacks of Ainei'ican vessels, and Ameri- 
can ships were otherwise employed. American and J3ritish merchants had other 
interests to protect, and, owing to the general state of aftairs, the demand for 
slaves was less than ordinary. This trade, therefore, in common with others, 
experienced a considerable decline. After the termination of the war, however, 
the traffic was revived, though it has never been carried to its former extent, by 
Britisli or American ships. 

Previous to the year 1729, all the functions of slavery were exercised, without 
dispute ; but, during that year, an idea originated — we cannot tell where — that 
all persons who were baptised in the Church of England, whatever may have 
been their previous condition, became free. Another foUowetl, that, as there was 
no definite law authorizing a citizen of Great Britain to hold a man as property, 
any person landing on the shores of that free island became himself free, what- 
ever may have been his previous condition or obligations. A case arose, to de- 
termine which the solicitor general of the district was called upon for a correct 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 97 

version of the law. The repl}' was, " We are of opinion, that a slave, by coming 
from the West Indies into Great Britain or Ireland, either with or without his 
master, does not become free, and that his master's right and property in him is 
not thereby determined or varied, and that baptism doth not bestow freedom on 
him, nor make any alteration in his temporal condition, in these kingdoms. We 
are also of opinion, that the master may legally compel him to return again to 
the plantations." 

In the year 1765, the question was again agitated in the abolition circles ; but 
this opinion was confirmed by several eminent jurists of the day, among whom 
was the celebrated Judge Blackstone. Some years after this, however, a case 
was brought before an English court, involving the question, and it was decided 
that the laws of England admitted of no slave property. In 1772, another case* 
terminated in the opinion, that, on any slave coining into Great Britain, he 
became free. Thus ended slavery — or rather' its name — in England. After the 
lapse of about forty years, the first great step towards abolition was accomplished. 
And there is no doubt that, at the time of its accomplishment, the jiarties eno-aged 
in it had no intention to push measures any farther. AVhy should they ? Bri- 
tish subjects unquestionably had a right to enjoy all the privileges appertaining to 
their rank, and, if the laws of England did not permit slavery m £Jngland, surely 
no slave could lawfully be held there. But there, we would suppose, the matter 
should have ended ; on the contrary, however, it was thei'e the matter began. 
It was there a struggle commenced, which was destined to last nearly three-quar- 
ters of a century. It was there abolition was first secreted in the womb of fana- 
ticism, and hope first breathed into the nostrils of the foetus. It was there our 
present 'ruptured condition dates its origin. 

This decision gave an impetus to the Quaker doctrines, it opened a new field 
for demagogues, a new road for frenzy. The slave trade was talked of, slavery 
discussed, and the rights of man decided 'on. A short time was sufficient to 
bring together a few zealots in search of excitement. All that was wanted was a 
theme. A committee of abolitionists was formed, plans devised, and objects dis- 
cussed. In a short time, it was settled among them, that to succeed in abolish- 
ing slavery, not only in Great Britain, but in all her colonies, they would be 
crowned with unprecedented glory. They determined upon their course. And, 
as Clarkson tells us — for he was one of the committee — they settled upon two 
evils from which to save their country. Their ultimute object was to abolish 
slavery, their avowed object only to siqrpress the trade. The two evils mentioned 
by Clarkson were, first, "the slave trade, in consequence of which many thou- 
sand persons were every year fraudulently and forcibly taken from their country." 
" The second was the evil of slavery itself, in consequence of which the same 
persons were forced into a situation, where they were deprived of the rights of 
men." " It appeared soon," says Mr. Clarkson, " to be the sense of the commit- 
tee, that to aim at the removal of both, would be to aim at too much, and that 
by doing this we might lose all." The question then was, which they should 
take as their avowed object. Like sensible men they took that which was most 
likely to succeed. They soon perceived that to abolish the slave trade, the abuses 
of %vhich were every where known and condemned, would be a matter more 
easily accomplished than the abolition of slavery, which was but little abused, 
and the right to interfere with which was exceedingly questionable. Upon a fur- 
ther discussion of the subject, they perceived, according to Clarkson, that " by 
aiming at the abolition of the slave trade, they were laying the axe at the very 
root. By doing this, and this only, they would not incur the objection, that they 

* The case of James Somerset, ^ fugitive flive. See Clarkson's Slavery, vol. i., page 65, 
also Copley's History of Slavery. 
7 



98 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

were meddling with the property of the pUinters." " By asking the government 
to do this, and this only, they were asking what it could really enforce." They 
knew that if the slave trade* was once abolished, the same jargon which justified 
it, would also tend to justify the abolition of slavery, which came out of it. and 
would be fortified by the precedents which would be established in the course of 
abolishing the trade. " Impressed by these arguments," says the humane but 
misguided Clarkson, " the committee were clearly of opinion, that they should 
define their object to be the abolition of the slave trade, and not of the slavery 
which sprung from it. Thus, at the very outset, they took a ground which was 
forever tenable. Thus they were enabled also to answer the objection, which was 
afterwards so constantly and so industriously circulated against them, that they 
were going to emancipate the slaves. And I have no doubt that this wise deci- 
sion contributed greatly to their success ; for I am j)ersuaded that, if they had 
adoi)ted the other object, they could not, for years to come, if ever, have succeed- 
ed in their attempt." This unveils the hypocrisy of the abolitionists of that day, 
intent on one object, they avow another. Think you reader, the abolitionists, 
free soilers, or whatever else they may be termed, of the j?re6e?ii day, are any 
more candid ? 

Not very long after the decision above mentioned, when a bill for " further re- 
gulating the African trade," was pending in the House of Commons, the Quakers 
presented a petition, praying for legislative interposition on behalf of x\fricans, 
and the slave trade, &c. This is said to have been the first petition ever pre- 
sented for the abolition of the slave trade. The press, also, at this time, began 
to contril)utft its quota of abolition doctrines. The public was frequently enter- 
tained with all sorts of remarkable publications. At this time, July, 1783, the 
first abolition society in England convened to determine what steps should be 
taken "for the relief and Ulceration of the negro slaves in the West Indies, and 
for the discourgement of the slave trade on the coast of Africa. It was then 
scarcely known that such an association existed. 

The first formal and official procedure for the abolition of the slave trade, took 
place in 1785. It was a petition duly drawn up by the Mayor and council of the 
town of Bridgevvater, addressed to Parliament, and praying for the abolition of 
the slave trade. It was little regarded, however, for it was merely read and 
ordered to lie on the table, and was never afterwards disturbed. In a discussion 
on the subject in the House of Commons, during this session, one of the mem- 
bers objected to the measure in these words.* " I object to the abolition of the 
slave trade for twenty reasons : the first is, it is impossible, the rest I need not 
give." This one potent objection has never been removed, as we will soon see. 
It is impossible. Early in 1788, the attention of the British government seems 
to have been brought to the subject ; for the King, b}' an order of council, 
directed that a committee of his privy council should convene as a board of ti'ade 
" to take into their consideration the present state of the African trade ; particu- 
larly, as far as related to the manner of purchasing or obtaining slaves on the 
coast of y^frica, and the im])ortation and sale thereof, either in the British colo- 
nies and settlements, or in the foreign colonies and settlements in America or the 
West Indies ; and also, as far as related to the eflfects and consequences of the 
trade both in Africa and the said colonies and settlements, and to the general 
commerce of this kingdom ; and that they should report to hira in council the 
result of their inquii'ies, with such observations as they might have to ofter there- 
upon." This committee was a long time in existence, and will be again re- 
ferred to. 

Abolitionists now began to extend their operations beyond their own country ; 

» 

* We speak of the trad*, not its abuses. f Mr. Grosvenor. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 99 

corresjiondintT ngencies and similar societies were established in Scotland, Ireland, 
Germany, America and other countries. It is said that an abolition fraternity 
was established in Paris, having among its members, " several ladies of the high- 
est rank and intellect.'''' Up to this time, however, the British Parliament would 
have no part in the matter. Some petitions had been presented, it is true, and 
one or two measures proposed, but immediately rejected. 

In 1791, Parliament sanctioned the establishment of the Sierra Leone Com- 
pany, the object of which, was " to colonize a small portion of Africa, as an asy- 
lum for negro slaves obtaining their freedom by coming to England, and yet who 
were destitute of maintenance." The humane principles of this company, as well 
as the bland honesty of its purpose, would appear from the following circum- 
stances. We have, in a preceding chapter, stated how many slaves were stolen 
fiom some of the Southern States, by the Britisli, during the American Revolu- 
tion : and that about two thousand were carried to Nova Scotia. These two 
thousand negroes seem to have been the spoil of the Sierra Leone Company. 
The precise method by which these two thousand escaped being sold along with 
thousands of their fellow slaves sent to the "West Indies, we have not been in- 
formed of. However, these chosen fetv remained for a time in Nova Scotia, but 
after a few yeais residence there they began to be burdensome to the public, and 
wore with difficulty sustained. Some departed this life from the injurious eftects 
of the severe chmate ; the chilly blasts of which, their half clad limbs were un- 
accustomed to. Some made their escape from the warm embrace o^ their kind 
benefactors, and returned to the hardships of their former condition, many finding 
their way even as far as Carolina. The rest remained with their white sujjporters 
like sensible negroes. They had nothing to do, but to feast on the folly of the 
white simpletons who carried them to the land of liberty, why should they not 
remain content. These considerations, together ivith other htiinane motives, in- 
duced the company to transport as many as could be prevailed upon to indulge 
in further travel, to the embryo colony of Sierra Leone. Accordingly, the com- 
pany, out of deference to the distinguished services of the well known Thomas 
Clarkson, appointed his junior brother, Lieut. Clarkson of the British Navy, to 
" undertake the conduct of this- business." The latter gentleman visited Nova 
Scotia, with a view of carrying out the designs of the company. After the most 
indefatigable exertions, a little more than half the negroes were induced, under 
one pretext or another, to extend their travels across the Atlantic, and return to 
the land of their injured sires. Transports were provided for about eleven hun- 
dred negi'oes, and they, under the younger Clarkson, embarked for Africa. Hav- 
ing arrived at their new home, we are told that Mr. Clarkson, as a reward for his 
services, had lionours heaped upon him, and was crowned with the imposing dig- 
nity of governor. " The tirst governor of the new colony !" The mighty gover- 
nor of 1,100 runaway negroes / Thus was that illustrious empire, the shining 
light of Africa, first populated by the stolen slaves of Southern planters. Pre- 
vious to this, however — in the year 1786 — an attempt was made to establish this 
colony, under the direction of Captain Tomson of the British Navy, "who toqk 
with him /o?/r hundred distressed negroes from London, with about sixty whites, 
to prepare and cultivate that portion of the country which was ceded by King 
Tom for the purpose of colonization." This, in a short time, proved a failure, and 
the scheme was abandoned, to be revived five years after by the company in 
1791. We need not say this last enterprise met with as signal a failure as the 
former. 

At this time, another very jjhmsible idea was gayly passed around to all the 
abolition gossips, old and young, high and low. It was proposed that all persons 
opposed to slavery in the colonies, should religiously abstain from consuming any 
article produced by slave labour, but especially sugar and rum. If, said they, if 



100 THE disunionist; or, 

universal concurrence could onhj bs obtained, the consumption of West India pro- 
duce would cease, and of course the West India planters would fail, and imme- 
diate abolition ensue. Thus their darling object would be accomplished, all by 
means of a little self-ilenial. It was a \ ery Jine idea, but we must say it was 
hardly practicable. Some few were foolish enough to try the experiment. They 
practised a little self-denial, but soon were convinced of the error of their way, 
and returned to the path of rectitude, sugar and rum. 

In 1793, a motion was made in the House of Commons, " for leave to bring 
in a bill to abolish that part of the sla^ ? trade, by which British merchants sup- 
plied foreigners with slaves;" but it was rejected. In 1799, the motion was 
again made, but with like success. In 1804 and 1805, the same thing took 
place. After the failure of the motion in 1799, a bill was introduced to confine 
the slave trade within certain limits. The direct object of this measnre, was the 
safety and prosperity of the colony at Sierra Leone. This measure was also de- 
feated. The abolition party in Parliament was, at this time, considerably rein- 
forced 1?S' the union with Ireland ; the majority of the Irish members being in 
favour of the measure. It was about this time that the most ridiculous, if not 
the most infamous, of all the schemes of abolitionists was planned. But, owing to 
the better judgment of some of those in authority, it was frustrated. The scheme 
was to buy up African men to recruit the black regiments of the British army.* 
The abettors of this scheme argued that the situation of the negroes, as soldiers, 
would be, beyond comparison, preferable to that of plantation slaves. This pro- 
ject was ridiculous, because // it is true, that it is better to take a man who is a 
slave, from the cultivation of fields and those comforts and enjoyments which 
belong only to peace, and put him in the ranks of the array to kill, or to be killed, 
and to subject him to the severest discipline in the world ; it is also true, that the 
pursuits and accidents of war, are to be preferred to the pursuits and accidents of 
peace ; or war is to be preferred to peace, which is obviously absurd. 

It was infamous, because, to buy a slave expressly to place him in an army, 
not because the service of the slave is wanted there, to defend the coxmtry, but 
because by putting him there, one slave less remains on the plantations ; by re- 
placing him, when he is killed, with another slave, there will be two less on the 
plantations, &c., is a scheme which, in order to abolish slavery, would slaughter the 
slaves. It was, therefore, infamous, and does no credit to the humanity and phi- 
lanthrophy of the abolitionist. But strange to sa), it was objected to on none of 
these grounds. Mr. Wilberforce, in whose ch'aracter, philanthropy was as promi- 
nent as statesmanship and economy were wanting, objected to it on very diflerent 
grounds. " How," says he to Mr. Pitt, " can we justify buying slaves for that 
desirable and even humane purpose, when we reflect that the increased demand 
will produce a proportionately increased supply, and consequently as many niore 
marauding expeditions, acts of individual rapire, injustice, witchcraft and con- 
demnations, &c., as are necessary for obtaining the requisite number of negroes. 

" It has occurred to me as extremely probable, that Buonaparte will resort to 
this mode of obtaining a black army for the reduction of St. Domingo, and I 
should be sorry that we should set him the example." The project was aban- 
doned. 

In the year 1807, the contest was permanently decided. After a series of 
efforts — some successful, some abortive — which continued nearly eighty years, it 
was enacted by Parliament, " that no ship should clear out for slaves, from any 
port within the British dominions, after the 1st of May, 1807, and that no slave 
should be landed in the colonies after March 1st, 1808," This bill has been 
poetically styled the " Magna Charta for Africa in Britain." 

* See Wilberforce's Correspondence, vol. i, page 240. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 101 

And what has been tlie result fif this Map^na Charta ? The trade luus not been 
sto|)ped, it hits not even been diitiiiiislied. Notwithstanding the solemn sentence 
of condemnation which was jjroiiounced against the slave trade, by the assembled 
powers of Europe, at Vienna and Aix-la-Chapelle, it is still carried on without the 
least diminution, and that too by several of the powers which joined in the con- 
demnation of it.* So far trora decreasing, the trade has increased to at least ^- 
twenty per cent, more, in the number and value of the slaves, than it was ever 
known to be when it was not prohibited by law. This " Magna Charta" humane 
and proper as it may have been, was not the rightful remedy, as experience 
shows, for it has proved an utter failure. Fifteen years ago, according to English 
authority,] it was thought that England was forever done with slavery and the 
slave trade. After an expenditure, estimated at one hundred and forty millions 
of ])onnds ; after all the ettbrts of hundreds of associations, thousands of commit- 
tees, public speeches, sermons, prayers, missions, tracts and pamphlets, to abolish 
them, they both exist in complete vigour. The only effect of all this commotion 
has been to increase the value of slave labour, to enrich the slaveholders of other ^ 
countries, and to impoverish the richest colonies of England. The experience 
of these fii'teen years teaches the world, that England can abohsh neither, slavery 
nor the slave trade. The English jieople, by their way of getting rid of slavery, 
made slaves more valuable, and the trade more profitable than it ever was before. 
They seem to have expected other people to follow their example, notwithstand- 
ing they made it the interest of those people not to do so. They forgot how 
slavery was abolished in the Scottish coal mines. Not by speeches, neither by 
acts of Parliament, nor yet by compensation, but by free lahuur becoming cheaper. ' 
Even now, at this late day, there are thousands yet to learn that slavery can only 
be abolished by being under-sold. The moment free labour becomes cheapest in 
any country, slavery is there already at an end. Six of the leading nations of 
the earth have entered into a league to suppi-ess the slave trade by Armed Pre- 
vention, J and the result of their efforts we will now proceed to consider. In the 
first place, the expenditure of life and treasure involved in this policy is obvious, 
and needs no argument to show the peculiar difficulties attendant on it. It costs 
Great Britain alone, half a million of pounds sterling, per annum. § But this 
policy involves the " right of search," and that is very liable to be abused. It is 
defective ; for it does not accomplish all that was anticipated from it, and from its 
very nature, it is actually unsuited to cope with the evil it pretends to remove. 
It not only fails to accomplish its end, but it aggravates the miseries of the negro 
in the clandestine passage across the sea. Let us refer to documents. In 1848, 
it was reported to the House of Commons, by " the select commitee on the slave 
trade," that during the year, ending in November, 184Y, the number of slaves 
landed in Brazil from the coast of Africa, " was not less than 60,000, and not ex- V^ 
ceeding, perha])S, 05,000, landed alive.'" And to secure that number of living 
subjects in Brazil, there must have been originally taken from the coast of Africa, 
that year, at least 100,000; the remaining 3.5,000 being taken by English 
cruisers, or dying from various causes on the passage. Thus, notwithstanding the 
African blockade, and all this formidable armed prevention, it is now demonstrated 
beyond doubt, that '■'■while in the year 1*794, wlien there existed no obstiuction 
to the traffic, the whole demand for African slaves, throughout the markets of 
the world, was adequately met by an annual abstraction of negroes froin that 
country, to the extent o/ 80,000 ; in the year 1847, whe^i the greatest naval 
powers are actively employing the most powerful of air obstruct ions to its preven- 

* See Wilberforce'a Cor., vol. ii, p. 265. f "Westminster Review, 1849. 

:}: England, United States, France, Spain, Portugal and Brazil. 
§See North British Review, 1849. 



102 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

tion, the demand for slaces in the 'market of Brazil alone, requires, in order to 
meet it, a yearly drainage from Africa of 100,000 negroes.'''' 

As continnatoiy evidence that the trade has not been lessened, but has only 
changed its channels, and that the supply and the demand bear about the same 
relation as they did before the prohibition, consider one circumstance in the Bra- 
zilian market. In 1790, when sla\es were imported into Brazil without hindrance, 
their average price was £54 sterling each; in 1817, in spite of armed prevention, 
their number being over 60,000, they sold at au average of £50. This goes 
forcibly to corroborate the statement iu the report of the select committee. 

A plain matter-of-fact view of the " whys and wherefores'" of this subject will 
bring us to the correct conclusion. The object of all police systems in custom- 
houses, as well as revenue vessels, is to prevent smuggling and all illicit traffic. 
And it must be conceded that this police system is as complete as it can well be, 
and its jurisdiction as unlimited as, in the nature of things, it can be. Yet it is 
well known that the commodities of other nations are smuggled, even in England, 
where the obstacles in the way of the smuggler would appear almost insurmount- 
able. Here, then, with the best system of prevention, and with powers the most 
commanding, England has failed to completely suppress smuggling in her ports ; 
and so has America, to a far greater extent. Add to this the fact, that the smug- 
gling of these commodities, at the most exorbitant estimate, cannot ensure over 
100 per cent, profits, and that the field of operations is very limited. Now, the 
object of placing cruizers on the coast of Africa, frem Senegal to Benguela, is to 
prevent the cxpo-rtation of slaves. This sj'stem of prevention must necessarily 
differ from that to prevent the inijiortation of commodities. It is defective, and 
never can be half so complete as the Custom House sys'teui. And, which is 
greater than every other consideration, the field of operations for the slave trader 
is almost unlimited, and his traffic ensures him the enormous jjrnjit of at least 
800 per cent* On account of this, there can be no surprise at the failure of the 
armed prevention. For, when we see the completest system, with unlimited 
powers and universal co-operation, fail to suppress the illicit tratlic in commodi- 
ties of comparatively small profit, and holding out limited inducements, with 
great fears of detection, to the smuggler, we have no reason to expect that we 
can, with a defective system, limited powers, and little or no co-operation, sup- 
press the illicit traffic in a commodity of immense profit, and offering great in- 
ducements, with few fears of detection, to the sea-faring adventurer. On the 
subject of the slave trade, then, — and slavery also — as with many other things, 
we think nature will not bend her views, nor alter the course of iier operations, 
to suit the requirements" of human law, neither to yield to the eiitn'aties of mercy. 
In order to obviate any effect, the most direct process would be to remove or 
extinguish the cause. And, until armed prevention, and the league of six nations, 
can remove the cause of slavery, and the slave trade, we look to find them iu 
existence. There can be no doubt that when the slave trade ceases to be profita- 
ble it will cease to exist. When free labour, so called, becomes cheaper than 
slave labour, tlie latter will assuredly be abandoned. As a closing remark, it 
should be stated that, notwithstanding the government of six leading nations, 
and the public opinion of the people, prohibit and condemn the slave trade, it is 
nevertheless true, that citizens and vessels of those nations are busily employed 

* For $30 the African chief will sell a slave ; and, for the expense and risk of transporting 
him to Brazil, the planter tlfcre will give $400 for him. This is a gross profit of 1333 per 
cent. After making the liberal deduction of 533 per cent., for expenses, risks and losses, 
either by death or re-capture, tliere remains the net profit of 800 per cent. Thus, by the 
outlay of about ^'.eOO, for twenty negroes, the trader is enabled to realize the net sum of 
$4,800. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 103 

in conducting it. From the highest authority in this country,* we learn that 
" this trade is still, in part, carried on by means of vessels built in the United 
States, and owned or navigated by some of our citizens." Were these vessels 
built in {he free States ? Are these citizens Northern or Southern men ? 

The holding of slaves within Great Britain having been pronounced illegal, 
and the importation of them into any of the British colonies having been pro- 
hibited by law, one would suppose the abolitionists must feel themselves satisfied 
at the good works they h^id done, and would be willing to rest from their labours 
and be content. No one would suppose that their christian consciences would 
ever have pricked them on to do any thing further-in the great cause of humanity. 
And it may well be asked, what more was to be done ? If slavery was unlawful 
in England, the law had been ^executed, and slavery had disappeared. If the 
slave trade proper, and the man-stealing connected with it, which British subjects 
carried on, were wrong, a law had been passed, prohibiting il foi- the future. No 
one entertained a doubt that, if the law was violated, tlie culprit would meet his 
reward. 

Abolitionists, however, were not permitted to stop here. Their enlightened 
minds conceived the great justice oi an ex post facto law; and, if they could, 
they would have, immediately after the abolition of the slave trade, enacted a 
law to liberate every slave in the British colonies, by way of punishing slave- 
holders for importing and purchasing slaves, ivhen there was no law which in any 
toay prohibited their doing so. It is true, this was not done immediately ; but 
the sequel will show how soon the ex post fticto principle of abolition doctrines 
was successfully applied. British abolitionists, actuated by that misguided zeal 
which belongs to every fanatic, either pohtical or religions, were impatient to rush 
headlong into the most wicked and preposterous extremes ; but they have those 
cooler heads and more pious souls to thank, who kept them from accomplishing 
their nefarious designs. In abolishing the trade, they had established the jtrece- 
dents upon which their future operations were to be based, and they were restless 
till they could be busied in the final work. It is true, after the abolition of the 
trade, in 1807, the party was materially diminished. All had been accomjilished 
which had been avoived as their object, and those who knew nothing further than 
the avowal were content, and seemed disposed to let the matter rest. But not 
so with all. There were a considerable number who still felt envy and bore 
malice, and an equal number of bigots, whose reasoning faculties had long been 
lost, and who lived for phrenzy and excitement. These composed the bulk of 
the abolition party at that time. And, for the succeeding sixteen years the slave 
and the master had each of them a little quiet rest and contentment. During 
this period, sla\ery in the British colonies was vastly improved. The interest, 
both of master and slave, invariably tends to improvement, provided they are not 
compelled or tempted — the one to exercise too much severity and vigilance, or 
the other to be insolent and vicious — by the stealthy intrigues of foreign aboli- 
tionists. The government of the colonies was constantly pjrojecting new improve- 
ments, to the advantage of all concerned. The negro population increased natu- 
rally, the condition of society was bettered, agriculture and commerce flourished, 
and the whole population was graduidly settling down to that state of equili- 
brium which will invariably be attained when a community is left quietly to 
pursue the arts of ])eace. It is true, there may still have been many abuses 
existing, many crimes committed, and many instances of cruelty exposed ; but 
where is a community to be found free of these imperfections ? 

It was not destined that this state of things should last forever. Tfie aboli- 
tionist, true to the principles of his creed, could not endure to look on and see, 

*See President's Message, Marcli 4th, 1849, 



104 - THE disunionist; or, 

witli eyes of envy, the flourishing condition of the slaveholding colonies. He 
could put up with the rags, beggary and vice all around him — he was accustomed 
to them, and besides, these people were white, /?re, they could take care of them- 
selves, their misery did not cause a single pang in his humane breast; but every 
lash that was inflicted on an Ethiopian hide, in a colony with which he had no- 
thing to do, in a community to which he was a perfect stranger, and at a distance 
of three thousand miles, pierced him to the very inmost recesses of his christian 
soul. Strange inconsistency ! Anomalous charity ! Most dubious piety ! 

In the year 1823, after a short rest, the press was again put into requisition, 
meetings were agam held, societies again formed, and another "Magna Charta" 
again planned out. A society was formed, " for the mitigation and gradual abo- 
lition of slavery throughout the British Domiirtons." Among the members of 
this society w^e find the names of many who were actively engaged in all the 
proceedings just recorded. One of the chief arguments used by Mr. Clarkson, 
the leading man of the association, to strengthen the society and stir up a new 
excitement, was the flourishing condition of Sierra Leone, colonized by a multi- 
tude of ner/rocs, Avho joined the British in the Revolution, 2Mnting for liberty, 
and eager for self-government : to wit, eleven hundred vagabonds, whom the 
people of Nova Scotia were glad to get rid of, under anj^ terms. On this occa- 
sion, every religious hallucination was brought to bear upon the one isolated 
question, of policy involved in the relations of slavery. This society succeeded 
in bringing the matter before Parliament, on the 15th May, 1823 ; for, on that 
day a petition was presented, and a motion made hy one of its 7nemberS, to the 
eflect, that slavery was irreconcilable with the principles of the British constitution 
and the christian religion, and "that it ought to be gradually abolished through- 
out the British dominions, with as much expedition as may be consistent with a 
due regard to the well-being of all the parties concerned." This resolution, with 
some amendment, was finally adopted by both houses of Parliament. 

On the 25th of May, 1829, the subject of slave evidence was introduced before 
Parliament. It was urged that this description of evidence should be eligible in 
all cases where that of any other person would be admitted. And it was agreed 
that, during the next session, a bill should be brought forward, for the reform of 
the colonial judicature, in which provision should be made for the admission of 
this species of evidence. 

The abolition bill was next presented, and, after going through the regular 
ordeals, was finally passed. It provides for the entire extinction of slavery in the 
British colonies, on the 1st of August, 1834. All field labourers, above the age 
of six years, were to pass into the state of apprenticed labourers, for six years, to 
terminate on the 1st of August, 1840. All domestic slaves to pass into the state 
of apprenticeship for four years, to terminate on 1st of August, 1838. All 
children, under six years of age, on the 1st of August, 1834, were exempted 
from the necessity of becoming apprentices, under certain conditions. And all 
born on or after the 1st of August, 1834, were to be considered free. Thus was 
the law abolishing the name of slavery in the British colonies permanently estab- 
lished, only twelve years ago. From beginning to end, it was the work of more 
than one hundred and ten years. 

This was in 1834. The very next year shows the effect of the measure. The 
Jamaica Assembly, in a document addressed to the Governor of that Island, in 
August, 1835, exhibits the state of the colonies, after the lapse of a twelvemonth. 
" Seeing," says the Assembl}-, " large portions of our neglected cane fields be- 
coming overrun with weeds, and a still larger portion of our pasture lands return- 
ing to a state of nature — seeing, in fact, desolation already overspreading the 
face of the land — it is impossible for us, without abandoning the evidence of our 
own senses, to entertain favourable anticipations, or to divest ourselves of the 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 105 

painful conviction, tliat progressive and rapid deterioration of property will con- 
tinue to keep pace with the apprenticeshi]>, and that its termination must, unless 
strong preventive measures be applied, complete the ruin of the colony." How 
true these early convictions were will appear from the fallowing table, which we 
take from a carefully compiled article in the Commercial Review, of 1848. The 
exports of sugar, rum and colfee from Jamaica were, on an average, 

Hhds sugar, Pun's rum; Lbs coffee, Annual value, 
at £20. at £10. at 60s. pr. cwt. 

For the 5 years, ending 1807, 

the last of the slave trade, 131,962 50,462 23,625,3'7Y £3,852,621 
For the 5 years, ending 1815, 

tlie year of the Registry act, 118,490 48,726 24,394,790 3,588,903 
For the 5 years, ending 1823, 

theyearof Cannioig'sresolut's, 110,924 41,046 18,792,909 3,192,637 
For the 5 years, ending 1833, 

THE LAST OF SLAVE LABOUR, 95,353 35,505 17,645,602 2,791,478 
For the 5 years, ending 1843, 

THE FIRST 5 OF FREE LABOUR, 42,453 14,185 7,412,498 l,21d,284 

Up to 1807, the exports of Jamaica progressively rose, as cultivation was ex- 
tended. But from that date it commenced gradually to decline. From the last 
two periods in the table, it appears that, by abolishing slavery, the annual value 
of these three principle staples was, in ten years, reduced from £2,791,478 to 
£1,213,284, which, at five per cent, is equal to annihilating an investment of 
about thirty-two millions of pounds. " AVe believe," says the writer, " the history 
of the world would be searched in vain for any parallel case of oppression, per- 
petrated by a civilized government, upon any section of its own subjects." We 
could give other evidence of the monstrous results of England's folly on this 
occasion ; but will refrain, as they are too generally known to require repetition 
here. 

A very short time after slavery was abolished in the British colonies, it became 
evident that the British government not only exjjected others to do likewise, but 
actually hoped either to force or induce them to do so. This was the greatest 
folly of the whole catalogue of follies. And we have every reason to believe 
that this hope has since been abandoned, at least as far as it concerns us. 

Mr. Calhoun, writing from tWe "Department of State," in 1844, says, "that 
its ultimate abolition throughout the entire continent is an object ardently desired ' 
by her, [England) we have decisive proof in the declaration of the Earl of Aber- 
deen, delivered to this department, and of wdiich you will find a copy among the 
documents transmitted to Congress with the Texan treaty. That she desires its 
abolition in Texas, and has used her influence and diplomacy to effect it there, 
the same document, with the correspondence of this department with Mr. Paken- 
ham, also to be found among the documents, furnishes proof not less conclusive. 
That one of the objects of abolishing it there, is to facilitate its abolition in the 
United States, and throughout the continent, is manifest from the declaratien of 
the abolitiqn party and societies, both in this country and in England. In fact, 
there is good reason to believe that the scheme of abohshing it in Texas, with the 
view to its abolition in the United States and over the continent, originated with 
the prominent jnembers of the party in the United States ; and was first broached 
by them in the (so called) World's Convention, held in London, in the year 1840, 
and through its agency brought to the notice of the British Government." 

The experience of , ten years has, however, wrought a great change in En- 
gland on the subject. The ardour of the English people has cooled amazingly 



^ 



106 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

since the conviction has forced itself upon them through the medium of their 
pockets, that their experiment has failed, and that other nations are determined 
to benefit by their error. 

" This experiment," says Mr. Calhoun, " has turned out to be a costly one. 
She has expended nearly one hundred millions of dollars in indenmifying the 
owners of the emancipated slaves. It has been estimated that the increased 
price paid since, by the people of Great Britain, for sugar and other tropical 
productions, in consequence of the measure, is equal to half that sum ; and 
that twice that amount has been expended in the suppression of the slave 
trade — making together, two hundred and fii'ty millions of dollars as the expense 
of the experiment. Instead of realizing her hope, the result has been a sad dis- 
appointment. Her tropical products have fallen ofl" to a vast amount. Instead 
of supplying her own wants and those of nearly all Europe, with them, as 
formerly, she has now, in some of the most important articles, scarcely enough 
to supply her own. What is worse, her own colonies are actually consuming 
sugar produced by slave labour, brought direct to England', or refined in bond, 
and exported and sold in her colonies as cheap, or cheaper, than they can be 
produced there ; while the slave trade, instead of diminishing, has, in fact, 
been carried on to a greater extent than ever. So disastrous has been the 
result, that her fixed capital vested, in tropical possessions, estimated at the 
value of near five hundred millions of dollars, is said to stand on the brink of 
ruin. 

^ " But this is not the worst. While this costly scheme has had such ruin- 
ous efiects upon the tropical produclions of Great Britain, it has given a pow- 
erful stimulous, followed by a corresponding increase of products, o those 
countries which have had the good sense to shun her example. There has 
been, it is estimated by them, invested in the production of tropical products, 
since 1808, in ^xed capital, nearly four thousand millions of dollars, wholly ( 
dependent on slave labour. In the same period, the value of their products is 
estimated to have risen from about $72,000,000 annually, to nearly $220,000,- 
000, while the whole of the fixed capital of Great Britain vested in cultiva- 
ting tropical products, both in the East and the West Indies, is estimated at 
only about '^5830,000,000, and the value of the products annually, at about 
$50,000,000. To present a still more striking view : of three articles of tro- 
pical products — sugar, cofl^ee, and cotton — the British possessions, including 
the West and East Indies, and Mauritius, produced, in 1842, of sugar, only 
3,993,771 pounds, while Culja, Brazil, and the United States, excluding other 
countries having tropical possessions, produced 9,600,000 pounds ; of coflee, 
the British possessions produced only 27,293,003 pounds, while Cuba and 
Brazil produced 201,595,125 pounds, and of cotton, the British possessions, 
including shipments to China, only 137,444,446 pounds, while the United 
States alone produced 790,479,275 pounds." 

" It is little short of mockery to talk of philanthropy, with the examples be- 
fore us of the effects of abolishing negro slavery in her own colonies, in St. 
Domingo, and the Northern States of our Union, where statistical facts, not 
to be shaken, prove that the freed negi'O, after the experience of sixty years, ' 
is in a far worse condition than in the other States, where he has been left in 
his former condition. No, the effect of what is called abolition, where the 
number is few, is not to raise the inferior race to the condition of freemen, but 
to deprive the negro of the guardian care of his owner, subject to all the de- 
pression and oppression belonging to his inferior condition. But, on the other 
hand, where the number is great, and bears a large proportion to the whole 
population, it would be still worse. It would be to substitute for the existing 
relation a deadly striie between the two races, to end in the subjection, expul- 



SECESSION,' THE RIGHTFUL KEMEDY, lCf7 

sion or extirpntiou of one or the other ; and such would be the case over the 
greater part of this coiitiiient wliere iicgro shivery exists." 

All the legal enactments requisite for the consummation of their designs, 
having now been completed, it would be reasonable to suppose, the English 
abolitionists would have found no further matter for their pious concern. But 
when will that day come ? So far from being satisfied with the results they 
had just brought about, they redoubled their infernal efforts. Having trans- 
formed the slave into the apprentice, it now became their avowed object, to 
release the apprentice, before his term of service, distinctly designated by law, 
had expired ; and this too, without any compensation to the master. It was 
a striking feature in the abolition philosophy of the times, to mistrust the effi- 
cacy of tlieir own measures, and abolitionists knowing themselves to be hypo- 
crits at heart, were exceedingly slow in confiding to others. The very crazy- 
eat of the creed, were afraid to trust the execution of the apprentice laws and 
the dai'ling interests of the appi'entice, in the hands of the colonists. They 
were like men Irightened at their own shadows. They believed the very con- 
currence of the colonies in the measure to be portentous. They made them- 
selves even more busy in framing excuses for the failure of their visionary theo- 
ries, than they had previous!}^ been in heaping calumny on the slaveholder. A 
year had scarcely elapsed before the London Anti-Slavery Societies resumed 
their accustomed duties, which were, presenting memorials, pointing out griev- 
ances, and |)raying for redress, whether the parties agrieved would have it or 
not. In 183(5, a select committee was appointed by the Housq of Commons 
to examine into the state of things in the colonies, hut especially Jamaica. 
The report of this committee caused some sensation in abolition circles ; and 
in a review of the report, published in 1837, the insanity and absurdity of abo- 
lition doctrines is clearly set foi'th in these words, " we say, therefore, boldly, that 
we will not trust any (jovernment, to whatever 'party iti, politics it may belong, 
with ilie interests of the nef/rocs." Here is the broad principle of justice which 
has, in every instance been the basis of abolition. Governments can be trust- 
ed with the interests of the white man, but the negro is a creature whose in- 
terests are too sacred to be entrusted to the care oi' human governments. The 
interests of the starving Irish, the Chinese, the East Indians, and all the world 
beside, may be trusted to the care of the British Government; but the African 
is above government, he can be cared for by no others than the j^eople of in- 
land. How far this princijilc obtains in America is every day more apparent. 

If there is one fact more forcibly exhibited than any other, in the abolition 
of slavery in the British colonies, it is this. In a po|)ulation composed of white 
men and negroes, the condition, both moral and physical, of the latter, is far 
better in a state of involuntary servitude to the former, than in any other state 
they have heretofore been placed. It is admitted by the most sanguine aboli- 
tionists, and for the very good reason that it cannot be denied ; that the negroes 
condition was worse under the ambiguous name of apj)renticeship, than under 
the name of slavery. Tliis fact is clearly estalilished by (official documents 
and actual observation. We need not cite instances. And how could it be 
otherwise '( During slavery, when the mother and her oll'spring were thtj prop- 
erty of their master, common interest, if no other motive, would induce such 
treatment as was essential to the health, comfort and preservation of both. 
But when slavery ended, this common interest also ended. Under the hireling 
or under the ajjprentice system, this treatment was not to be expected, except 
as charity. Under the apprentice system — which ])rofessed improvement in 
all things — infants being no longer the property of the ijiaster, elicited no 
care or kindness from him, and perhaps were even regarded as burdens. For 
instead nf increasing the property of the master, and thus involuntarily ren- 



108 THE disunionist; or, 

dering a return for its support; it interrupted the labour, and consequently 
lessened tlie value of the mother. Similar remarks might be made with re- 
gard to other accidents and conditions of the two systems. But let it not be 
said we take too mercinary, or too degrading a view of the case. If we do, 
it is because human nature is too mercinary or too degrading. Ours is the 
most practical way of accounting for the miserable condition of the negroes 
after emancipation, even if there was no positive authority for the assertion. 
People talk of philajvthropy ! They imagine the most visionary conditions 
of society, and pursuade themselves into the absurdity of expecting divine at- 
tributes in man's imperfect nature. But we are content to limit our cogita- 
tions to facts as they exist in this sublunar world, our ideas are entirely of a 
imindane nature. We cannot fail to believe that interest is a much more pow- 
erful incentive than charity or philanthropy ; nor do we recollect ever having 
met with a man who would not prefer receiving a debt of gold to a debt of 
gratitude ; who would not consider a thousand guineas a far more substantial 
return than " a thousand thanks." 

Early in 1837, there was some dissention in abolition circles. All aboli- 
tionists agreed in the opinion that the apprentice system was no improvement 
on slaverj'. Some wished to moralize in public, on the reformation of abuses, 
to protect the rights of the poor apprentice, by stepping in, in the place of the 
law, between him and his master, and compdling the latter to do their will in 
his domestic affairs. Others were of opinion that past experience pointed to 
a different course. They thought the only christian way of proceeding would 
be to abolish apjirenticeshiji. They piously ui'ged that, slavery was wrong, 
because it gi-ew out of the slave trade ; so apprenticeship was wrong, because 
it grew out of slavery, ichich was wrong. The first mentioned class refrained 
from any efforts to cut short the period of apprenticeship. They regarded the 
bill, creating apprenticeship, as the creature of their own hands. They were 
sensible enough to refrain from the glaring inconsistency which the others were 
eager to persist in. Moreover, they ver^- well knew that the British Govern- 
ment was not apt, wantonly, to violate a compact of its own choice and ma- 
king, when the ink was scarcely dry with which it was written. These, to- 
gether with other differences, which must inevitably spring up among frenzied 
zealots, lead to the formation of " the Central Negro Emancipation Com- 
mittee." 

This commitf:'(> was not slow in enlisting the services of the pulpit, it ad- 
dressed circulars to " ministers of every denomination throughout the king- 
dom, calling their attention to the state of the apprenticed negroes, and invi- 
ting their co-operation in seeking, at the hands of Parliament, the immediate 
repeal of the system." The press was also brought into action. The favourite 
plan of distril)uting tracts, pamphlets, and all manner of impositions was re- 
sorted to with redoubled energy. And on the 22d of January, 1838, the sub- 
ject was brought beibre Parliament, in the form, not of the " Wilmot Proviso," 
but of the Wilmot Hejjeal ; for it was on that day that " Sir Eardly Wilmot 
gave notice of his intention to move for a bill for the immediate repeal of the 
apprenticeship clause in the abolition act." 

Just about this time, a petition from " the Town Council of Liverpool," 
was presented, praying for the inuiiediate abolition of the apprentice system. 
The effort, however, was unavailing. And it soon became known that gov- 
ernment was resolved to carry out the provisions of the law, and to preserve 
the system to the latest period of its legal existence. If, then, the system was 
abolished before the time appointed, it must be by the colonists themselves. 
On this account, the foolish clatter of abolitionists was partially hushed. But 
it received an essential quietus, when Sir Wilmot's motion, after having passed 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 109 

the House of Commons by a majority of three, was, by a subsequent ma- 
nojuvre of ministerial policy, virtually cancelled and set aside. 

These dying embers serve forcibly to show the spirit of fanaticism, which 
gives life to the doctrine of abolition. First, to abolish slavery and create ap- 
prenticeship, then because apprenticeship did not come up to the paradise it 
was conceived to be, to attempt to abolish it also, thonyh it was the institu- 
tion of their 010 n creation. Tiiey serve to illustrate their impertinent officious- 
ness, in constantly interfering where they have no interest, with the execution 
of laws which appertain in no way to them. But the virtuous consistency of 
the British people, and abolitionists in general, is exhibited by the following 
circumstance, to greater advantage than we have ever yet seen it. We would 
be inclined to doubt the truth of it, but for the very general knowledge of the 
fact. At this very time, when English philanthropists were so busy in their 
endeavours to abridge the African's apprenticeship, a new slave trade was in 
actual existence. By an order in council,* which had passed some months 
previous, there was a palpable encouragement held out for a species of slave 
trade, very much resembling that of Sir John Hawkins, under Queen Elilza- 
beth, three centuries ago. British laws having forbidden the African trade 
actually sanctioned a new slave trade, bearing a diflerent but specious name. 
We refer to the regular importation of Coolies. By the 6th of March, 1838, 
this trade began to be conducted to such an extent that " Lord Brougham 
brouglit forward a motion on the subject of the importation of hill Coolies of 
Calcutta, into British Guinea." 

British abolition was now nearly at an end, there was but little left for it 
to prey upon. The subject having been finally dismissed from Parliament, it 
only reYnained for the " outsiders" to amuse the public with a few entertaining 
exhibitions. Of all these amusing evening entertainments there were perhaps 
none so well got up as the grand public meeting at Exeter Hall, on the 4th 
of April, 1838. The meeting was numerously attended, and is said to have 
been deeply interesting. Many new fabrications were brought to the notice of 
the enquiring public, and abolitionists cajoled each other in a most ludicrous 
manner. Before the sages separated they issued a circular, recommending the 
prompt and general adoption of the following measures : — Petitions to Parlia- 
ment, praying for immediate, entire, and uncomj)ensated abolition of appren- 
ticeship. This was unkind ; uncompensated abolition was too unkind. It 
was the greatest as well as the last improvement in abolition doctrines. When 
the " abolition act" was passed, an oppropriation of money was made to serve 
as a recompense to owners for the loss of their property ; but on this occa- 
sion it was proposed to withhold all pecuniary remuneration. Now, surely, if 
a price was to be paid for the slave, the right of property in whom tvas ques- 
tioned ; it was far more proper that a price should be paid for the apprentice, 
the right to the services of whom, loas solemnly recognized^ granted, created by 
law. This was the last gasp, and most ridiculous giration of the abolitionists 
as a political party in England. Their spirit has been wafted across the At- 
lantic, to find a resting place in the crumbling capital of a disunited Union, a 
distracted country. They need no further existence, for there are no more 
African martyrs in the realm, wherewith to feed their hungry bowels. The 
frantic vomitings of a century have disgorged them of their loathsome spleen. 
The glorious result of their labours is their best epitaph ; it is recorded in the 
islands of West India. 

* Copley's Hist, of Slavery. Appendix. 



110 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 



CHAPTER XIII. 



" 'Scaped from the ravage of the Turk and Goth, 
Thy country sends a spoiler worse than both." 

We need not offer an apology for citing the facts we have in relation to the 
British colonies ; nor do we tliink it can be looked upon as a digression. For 
we hold that, if slavery is ever abolished, or in any way embarrassed, against 
\ the desire of the shaveholding States, it will be owing to the application of 
the same principles, and the result of the same causes, as those which accom- 
plished the measure in the British colonies. But, independent of this, the ge- 
nius of our people assimilates with that of the English people. Our language 
is the same as theirs, and the force of this circumstance alone, is incalculable. 
Besides that, the spirit of our laws is caught from theirs in many respects. 
Though the reports of cases determined in English courts are not precedent 
in ours, yet they are authority. They have great weight, and though they are 
open to observation, animadversion, and contradiction, yet they are generally 
decisive. We are unquestionably the oflspring of Great Britain ; and if we 
inherit some of the infirmities of our parent State, do we not also owe it to 
ourselves to be benefitted by her experience, as well as to take advantage of 
the many favours nature has heaped upon us l 

But sixty years ago, men were wont to indulge in the pleasing reflection, 
' that the similarity of the people in every respect and in all directions of the 
countr}', must unavoidably pei'petuate the then really glorious Union. As all 
the great empires of preceding ages were formed by the conquest cff king- 
doms, different in arts, manners, language, temper, and reli^Mwii, from the con- 
querers ; so that the Union, though in some cases very strong, was never the 
real and intimate connection of the same' people ; and this circumstance prin- 
cipally accelerated their ruin, and was the absolute cause of it in some. And 
our Union having been formed by very different means, and the population, 
generally, speaking the same language, the people were supposed to be one 
and the same in eveiy interest ; ihe same in religion, in laws, manners, tem- 
pers and pursuits ; it was eagerly believed that time could do no more than 
strengthen every tie ; and tluit every increase in States, would be an additional 
bond of harmony. But could tlris pleasant reflection find an echo now? Do 
the same state of things exist now, that existed sixty years ago ? Do the 
same men exist ? Do the two great sections, the South and the North, main- 
tain the same relations they did then ? In short, if the same religion and the 
A same laws regulated the society of both sections then, do they continue to do 
so now ? By no means. 

It is very true, the advantages- enjoyed by this nation are immense ; the aston- 
ishing increase in its population, wealth and resources, is the natui'al effect of 
plenty of land, a good cHniate, and a benificent government, in which corruption 
and tyranny vjere once unknown: but that time has forenfer gone. The great Ro- 
man Empire perished by the hands of northern bai'barians, whom the masters of 
. the world disd'uned to conquer ; but this can never be the case with our Union. 
Our people inhabit every desirable portion of the Northern continent, and, if our 
Union should be preserved snfticieutly long, they will, doubtless, possess it alto- 
gether. From what quarter then would our Goths and Vandals come. No do- 
minion can ever be extended over us by the Southern continent ; for among a 
thousand other reasons, the greater portion of that country lies in the torrid none, 
a region that has never yet sent forth nations of conquerors. Being thus ex- 
empt from invasion, from any quarter of the Globe, where can our end originate 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL FiiilMEDY. Ill 

but -with ourselves. Being beyond the reach of all external foes, what can ever 
terminate our Union but a disease ivithin. \ Our federal constitution is based 
upon prinojples of justice, and was created in the spirit of compromise. Our 
laws undertake to ensure to every citizen his inprescrqjtible political rights, and 
gWM-s.niQ% security both of person and property ; resistance against ojjpres.sion, 
a voice in the formation of laws, and an equal chance of arriving at places of 
honor, reward, or employment, according to his virtues or talents. "These are 
the ])rinciples of our ponstitution, and laws grafted upon these simple, but sub- 
stantial ]MincipIes, and a system of legal jurisprudence, organized and acting ac- 
cordingly, form the essence of our government ; and if ever the government / 
swerves materially from these fundamental 2}>'inciples, the compact is dis- 
solved, and things revert to a co-equal.'''' 

That the government has swerved, or that it will swerve, because owing to the 
nature of things it must swerve, is a truth which no longer admits of a doubt. 
A retrospective glance at the history of aftairs will convince any sane mind. 

Our system of government rests on " the broad basis of the people ;" like a 
pyramid, it narrows as it ascends ; its powers gradually rise, while they are con- 
fined in proportion as they rise. Every "course" in the structure is cemented to 
that immediately beneath, and finds its real support in the broad foundation 
course of all — the voice of the people, the spirit of their laws, and the genius of t-^ 
their pursuits. Let these be homogenious, homogenious throughout, and the fii- 
bric can never fall. But, as the unequal settling in the foundations of the grand- 
,est edifice, will inevitably weaken and distort the strongest walls of the super- 
structure, and ensure their final downfall ; so, the heterogenious matter in the 
M'oad basis of our political structure, faithfully promises the most serious distor- 
tions and enduring ruptures. The basis is the people, the people are not homo- 
genious, they^rio not assimilate, they are o]jposed in interests, at variance in opin- 
ions, they are at ivar, inevitable, unavoidable war. The basis is convulsed, the 
superstructure must totter. The basis is corrupt, the structure is contaminated. 
The basis is decayed, the structure must fiiU. The cement is broken, the house 
is divided against itself. It must fall. Is proof wanted, it is at hand.j 

Are the religion, laws, manners, tempers and pursuits of the people of this 
union, so similar as to ensure perj)etual union ? Is the foundation of the Repub- 
lic composed of homogenious or heterogeneous matter ? First, in relation to re- 
ligion. 

/Has any schism of a sectional nature taken place in any religious denomma- 
tion, calculated to weaken the political bond of any two sections of the Union. 
We have already shown at how early a period slavery was denounced by the 
"Society of Friends ;" and that sla\ery is believed to be a sin by every conform- 
ing Quaker of the present day, we have no reason to doubt. This denomination 
of cliristians resides, we believe, almost exclusively in the free States. It is a 
small denomination, and any schism in it would have a proportionately small ef- 
fect upon the politics of the country. 

The largest, and one of the most influential denomination of christians in the 
United States is the Methodist Church. The chief branch of this Church, is the 
" Methodist Episcopal Church," which numbers, according to tlie best informa- 
tion we have been able to procure,* at least 1,112,750 communicants, and 5,042 
ministers — making an aggregate of 1,117,798 members. In this church, the 
subject of slavery has ever been one of no small consideration. The subject has 
been one of primary importance in the temporal affairs of the church ever since 
its first establishment in America ; and in spite of every possible effort to perpet- 
uate harmony, tbis unpropitious connection of slavery with the church has been 

* American Almanac. 



y^ 



112 THE disunionist; or, 

productive of results, the end of which are yet to appear. But let us turn to the 
unvarnii^hed evidence of documents ; there we will see the inevitable discord re- 
sulting from discussions, even among the clergy, of the vexed question, which is 
so foreign, both to the business of the church and of the government, j 

(At the General Conference of the Church in 1836, the question of slavery 
was warmly discussed, and the evils flowing from such discussions became quite 
apparent to many ; so much so, in fact, that when the Conference convened in 
1840, it was urged by the Bishops, in their address, as the solenm conviction of 
their minds, that no ecclesiastical legislation on the subject of slavery, would at 
that time have a tendency to the accomplishment of any desirable object.* / As 
an evidence of the irresistible power of fascinating, which the subject seerns to 
possess over the minds of the northern conferences of this church, it is sufficient 
to state, that, notwithstanding it was the declared opinion of the majority of the 
Conference of 1836, based upon the most careful examination of the whole 
ground, and aided by the light of past experience, that "the interests of religion 
would not be advanced by any additional enactments in regard to slavery;" not- 
withstanding the whole body of communicants was solemnly admonished, by the 
heads of the church, to abstain from all abolition movements, and from agitating 
the exciting subject in the church ; yet, in some of the Northern States, in spite 
of this pastoral counsel, the subject was agitated in such forms, and in such a 
spirit, as to disturb the peace of the church, and was made the absorbing business 
of numerous " self-created bodies." Notwithstanding it was strenuously urged 
by the wisest and best men, that neither individual members, nor official bodies 
in the church, should employ terms, and pass resolutions of censure, or condem- 
nation, on any member, or public officer, or official bodies, over whose actions they 
had no legal jurisdiction ; notwithstanding it was clearly demonstrated that 
such a course of conduct, in so large and influential a church, would materially 
effect the union of the States, the perpetuity of the national c<jnfederation, the 
reciprocal contidencc of the different members of the great civil compact ; in a 
word, the welfare of the entire community : notwithstanding, ever since the year 
1*792, the "general rules of the united societies" expressly jtrohibited "the buy- 
ing and selling of men, women and children, with an intention to enslave them : 
notwithstanding, the diversity of the institutions of the different States is such as 
to render it impossible to suit all the incidental circumstances of clnirch economy 
to the views of every individual : notwithstanding, it had been a well settled and 
long established principle in the })olity of the church, never to insist upon the 
emancipation of slaves in contravention of civil authority, it being always con- 
sidered unjust and unreasonable to hold individuals responsible for the destiny of 
circumstances over which they have no control ; in spite of the exertions of the 
most liberal minds, the subject of slavery was called up before the General Confe- 
rence of 1840, no less than ninety-one times, by delegates from Northern States, 
in the form of petitions and memorials alone. 

Geographical dissentions had attained a startling attitude when this conference 
adjourned. But if there was any thing to awaken the apprehensions of the most 
timid then, what must we viot expect at the succeeding Conference in 1844. The 
spark had been kindled. The subject had a fivm foothold m the minds of those 
who were capable of fanning it to flame; but it is a source of no little pride to 
us, as a.Southern man, to review the conduct of those firm and truly pious men, 
who represented the South at this Conference ; when they — a small minority — 
vindicated the honor of the South, on the purest principles of charity, humanity 
and ju tice. The manly conduct of these good men on this occasion, affords no 
contemptible example for Southern statesmen at the present time. 

* See Appendix to Journal of Conference, 1840. 



SECESSION, THE UIGHTFUL REMEDY. 113 

At this Conference (184^4,) tliere seems to have been a fixed determination on 
the part of Nurtlierii men, to keep the subject in agitation as much as possible, 
for by a reference to the Journal of the Conference, it will be found tbat in the 
short space of eighteen days, there were no less than two hundred and seventy- ■ 

fou)- memorials and petitions on the slavery question, presented by nine northern 
Conferences, and many from northern people in their private capacity, there being 
as many as ten thousand signatures attached. It was only on the 14th day of 
the Conference, when the evils of the agitation had assumed so palpable a form, 
that, as a last effort towards conciliation and compromise, and in view of the dis- 
tracting controversies which had been so long existing, and the unpleasant posi- 
tion in which most of the delegates found themselves jilaced, it was i-esolved 
" that a comminee of six be ap|jointed,* to confer with the liishops and report 
within two days, as to the possibility of adopting some plan for the permanent 
pacification of the church.'' But after a calm and deliberate investigation of the 
subject, the committee reported that they were "unable to agree upon any plan 

, of compromise to reconcile the views of the Northern and Southern Conferences." 
Every eftbrt to compromise having proved abortive, a series of resolutions were 
next presented, and referred to a select committee, providing for the amicable 
dissolution of the Church Union, if we may be permitted to use the expression ; 
the line separating the two proposed branches being that which separates the 
slaveholding from the non-slaveholding States. Pending the consideration of this 
measure by the committee, a declaration signed by fifty-one delegates from the 
South, was presented and referred to the same committee. In this it was set 
forth " that the continued agitation on the subject of slavery and abolition in a 
portion of the church — the frequent action on that subject in the General Confe- 
rence, and especially the extra judicial proceedings against Bishop Andrews, which 
resulted on Saturday last, in the virtual suspension of him from his office as su- 
perintendent, must produce a state. of things in the South, which renders a con- 
tinuance of the jurisdiction of this General Conference over these Conferences, 
viz: those represented by the signers — inconsistent with tlie success of the minis- 
try in the slaveholding States." This committee was again instructed to devise, 
if possible, a constitutional plan for a mutual and friendly division of the church. 
Dua-ing the consideration of this, a formal protest of the minority of the Confe- 
rence, against the proceedings in the case of Bishop Andrews, was presented and 
laid on the table, and a committee appointed to inquire into the merits of the 
case. In this protest, made in behalf of thirteen Southern Annual Conferences, 
and portions of several others, embracing nearly 5,000 ministers and 500,000 
communicants, it was clearly set forth that the entire proceedings were contrary 
to law and informal ; were in violation of the fundamental law, usually known as 
the compromise law of the church on the subject of slavery. f That on this occasion 
a precedent was established, subversive of the union and stabihty of the church. 
That precisely in accordance with the state of feeling in the genei'al popuhition 
of the North and South, the chuich itself had been divided in ojiinion on the sub- 
ject of slavery, ever since its organization in 1784; two separate and distinct par- 
ties had always existed ; and nothing could ensure harmony, but a pious observance 
of that virtual, though informal, contract of mutual concession and forbearance 
between the North and South, upon which the compromise law of the church on 
the subject of slavery was originally founded. That whenever this law, the only 
bond of connection, is rendered null, no matter in what form, or by what means, 
the church was to every practical purpose already divided, without the interven- 
tion of any other agency. That the North had always found its security in- 

* Three from the South and three from the North. See page 43 of Journal of Conference 
•|- This compromise is not unlike the Missouri compromise in spirit and in principle. 



114 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

numbers, and the untrammelled right of suffrage ; and that no concession, be- 
yond peaceable submission to the right of suffrage, would ever be submitted to 
by the South. That from the coinpromise basis of union in the church the South 
had naver swerved ; but that it had been abandoned by the North ; and that 
princijiles and purposes were entertained there driving the South to extreme ac- 
tion, in defence both of her rights and her reputation. That as soon as the com- 
promise was abandoned, the law of union, the principle of gravitation binding 
the two sections together became dissolved, and the general superintendency of 
the church was no more, the absolute necessity of division was already dated. 

On the 8th of June, the select committee (of nine) made its report, which was 
amended and adopted. It provides for the division of the church, points out the 
dividing line, permits ministers to remain in the church South, without any blame 
being attached to them for so doing. Thus was accomplished the geographical 
division of the the7i largest church in the Union, not on doctrinal yrouiuls, but 
because of an attemj)t of northern people to overrule the civil laws of the South, 
through the action of their ecclesiastical laws upon the individuals of their church, 
and thereby to force southern men to be doubly recreant in their duties, tirst as 
christians, then as citizens. The dissolution of this church is pregnant with the 
most salutary truths. It instances the most admirable rectitude, the most 
manly independence, the soundest appreciation of rights on the part of those 
staunch representatives of the South, who, headed by a Bascom, dared to main- 
tain the dignity of their calling, at the same time that they vindicated the justice 
of the principles they defended. When we see venerable men, whose piety we 
cannot mistake, and whose virtues are on every lip ; when we see such men after 
mature deliberation, openly avow by their most solemn declarations, that on the 
score of Northern interference with Southern slavery, even in the churchy there is 
a point beyond which forbearance ceases to be a virtue, and submission becomes 
a crime ; must we not feel sad at the tamer course which certain Southern Con- 
gressmen, ill all the majesty of their wisdom, are base enough to pursue. Oh 
that the purity, determination and indejiendence of those unpresuming patriots, 
had ere this been imparted to the degraded politicians, who in the time of need 
have the cowardice and treachery to desert the people who made them what they 
are, and reposed in them their dearest interests. 

Another denomination of christians which is openly divided on the question of 
slavery is the Baptist Church. This denomination numbers 953,693 communi- 
cants, besides 8,673 ministers,* .making altogether 961,366 members. These 
two churches alone comprise an aggregate of 2,218,642, nearly half the entire 
number of professing christians in the country, there being but 4,544,841 in all. 
Besides these open ruptures, there are other denominations which in principle 
are equally divided. We have read sermons from the Presbyterian pulpit of the 
North, which could better have been called free soil stump speeches than ser- 
mons. There are frequent conventions of churches in the Northern States — as 
for instance, the one in Cincinnati last Api'il — the avowed object of which are to 
denounce the religion of the South, and to encourage the expulsion of slavehold- 
ers from the communion table. The ratio of communicants to population in all 
denominations, taken collectively, is about one to five. If to the Methodists and 
Baptists, we add the odd portions of other denominations, chiefly in New-Eng- 
land, New-York and Ohio, known to be opposed in their ideas about slavery, we 
will have a sum of at least 2,500,000, Now accordmg to the ratio just men- 
tioned, this about one- fifth of the population, which is related or connected to 
these communicants ; and although they do not belong to the c^iurch proper^ yet 
they are so related to those who do belong to the church, that they must inevita- 

* American Almanac. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 115 

bly take part with the one side or the other. Taking all these together, we 
would have no less than 12,500,000 people ready to be arrayed against each 
other whenever the 2,500,000 are disposed to make the issue, and of these latter 
every body knows how small a proportion were the originators of their schisms. 
It cannot then be said that the religion of the people of this glorious union is so 
harmonizing in its offices as to render the union forever glorious. No : the ra- 
ving fanatic does not confine his frenzy to the things which concern the order of 
society, or the government of a people ; he has not been content to defile the 
things of this world with his loathsome touch, but he has mounted up on high to 
cast back into the teeth of Moses the sinfulness of his dispensation, and to stamp 
IMMORALITY upou the brow of Jehovah. It has been reserved for him^ to storm 
the precincts of Heaven, and in the rage of his indignation, to hurl down 
the escutcheon of " Faith, Hope and Cliarity,'''' that it might he replaced by the 
modern dogma — " Liberty, Democracy, Equality T He is not only empowered 
to level all distinction in the rights and sutfrages of man whilst in this mortal 
coil ; but he has reserved for himself the discretionary power of casting off those 
who have not the wedding garment from the table of the eternal supper. 

Abolitionists, not satisfied to confine their strictures with regard to the irreli- 
gion of slavery, to the christian faith, attempt to bring the evidence of Ma- 
hometan laws to show how irreconcilable such a custom is Avith the principles 
even of that surreptitious faith. If Mahometans discountenance slavery, they 
exclaim in the depth of their indignation, how much more should christians abo- 
lish the infamous practice ! But in this, as in most other respects, the abolitionist 
is wrong, wholly wrong. Wi'ong in the premises, wrong in the conclusion. If 
Mahometans did forbid slavery, it does not follow that christians should do like- 
wise. But it is a mistake. The faith, the text book, the Koran itself, does not 
discountenance slavery any more than our own Bible does. The whole orgin of 
the error, which is so greedily snatched up by rabid dreamers, is briefly as fol- 
lows : — After the arch imposter had made sufficient advancement in his projects, 
to discover that he Avas likely to succeed, he began to operate upon the minds of 
those around him. " Encouraged by so good a beginning," says Lane, from whose 
translation we quote — " he, that is Mohammad, resolved to proceed, and to try 
for some time, what he could do by private persuasion, not daring to hazard the 
Avhole aflifiir by exposing it too suddenly to the public. He soon made proselytes 
of those under his own roof, namely : his wife, Khadeejeh, Ms slave, Zeyd Ibn- 
Haritheh, to whom he gave his freedom* on that occasion,f and his cousin and 
pupil 'Alee, then very young.'''' This is the whole origin of the delusion. The 
imposter in order to gain a follower, liberated a slave. What a powerful argu- 
ment for modern abolitionists ! Who that aspires to the eminence of a God 
would not discharge a slave that he may gain an apostle ? The example of the 
so called prophet was imitated to a limited extent, until the " faith" had been 
permanently established. The policy dictating the measure is of course obvious. 

So far from slavery being contrary to the spirit or intention of the "faith," it , 
is actually enjoined and provided for in certain cases, similar to the Jewish pro- 
visions on the subject. The prophet declared and openly proclaimed that he had 
received God's permission to attack and dertroy his idolatrous enemies, if they 
would not atone for their injurious conduct by embracing El-Islam, excepting the 
women and children, whom, if they remained obstinate, he was commanded to 
make slaves. " It has been said even by some of their leading doctors, that the 

* For he was Ms purchased slave, as Abu-1-Fida expressly tells us ; and not liis cousin- 
German, as M. de Boulainville asserts, (vie de Mali. p. 273.) 

f Sale here adds, " which afterwards became a rule to his followers ;" but the conversion of 
a person after he has been made a slave, does not entitle him to, and seldom obtains for him 
his freedom. (See Lane's Chap, on " the establishment of £l-Jslam," p. 61.) 



116 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

Muslims are commanded to put to death all idolators who refuse to embrace El- 
Islam, excepting women and cliildren, whom they are to make slaves ; but the 
precepts on which this assertion is founded relate to the Pagan Arabs, who had 
violated their oaths, aiul long persevered in their hostility to Mohammad and his 
fuUowers. According to the decisions of the most reasonable doctors, the laws 
respecting other idolators, as well as Christians and Jews, who have drawn upon 
themselves the hosiility of the Muslims, are different. Of such enemies, if redu- 
ced by force of arms,. refusing to capitulate, or to sui'render themselves, the men 
may be put to death, or be made sliives ; and the women and children, also, un- 
der the same circumstances, may be made slaves." 



CHAPTER XIV. 

" * * * * * Romans now 
Have thewes and limbs like to thefr ancestors; 
But, wo tlie while ! our father's minds are dead, 
And we are governed by our mother's spirits ; 
Our yoke and sufTerance sliow us womanish." 

As to the manners, customs, and pursuits of the people, do they serve to ce- 
j ment the union of the States ? Look for a moment behind the mere gloss of po- 
lite society, it will be found that even in these respects there is a marked geo- 
graphical distinction. Where is that lauded bond of sympathy and interest which 
was to bind the Union eternally ? Where is it, but under the mouldering tomb 
with those who endeavoured to create it. Is it between the cotton gi'ower of 
Mississipiti and the coal monger of Pennsylvania? Is it between the sugar plan- 
ter of Louisiana and the lumber merchant of Maine? Is it between the Carohna 
rice planter and the Massachusetts whale-fisher ? Is it between the land owner of 
GeortTia and the pork merchant of Ohio ? Is it between the slaveholder of the 
South and the abolitionist or free-soiler of the North ? Is it between the black 
slave of the South and the white pauper of the North ? Is it even between the 
church of the South and the church of the North ? Between the judicature of 
the South and the judicature of the North ? If this fellow sympathy and com- 
mon interest ever did exist, why does it not exist now ? Is it because slaves are 
held at the South now ? Then why did it ever exist. Slavery has ever been in 
practice at the South. Is it because Southern men love Caesar less and Rome 
more, or because Northern men love Rome less and Csesar more. There is no 
such sympathy. This union can never more rely on fellow feeling for its endu- 
i ranee. There is no common interest which can perpetuate the union of these 
States one moment longer than it continues to possess its original value. There 
is no identity of manners, interests or pursuits between the people of the South 
and those of the North, of such value, as to compensate for the slightest depre- 
ciation in the original value of the union. This union is a species of property 
amon"- the States, the value of which does not admit of the slightest fluctuation. 
No one, nor no set of these thirty oo-partners, can better test the binding force 
of their compact, or the value of their stock in trade, than by attemi)ting at the 
present time to appro|)riate to themselves more than their acknowledged dues, on 
the ground of common interest or fellow feeling. Whatever armed forces or 
degrading submission may preserve the na7ne of the Union, it is certain sympa- 
thy and interest never will. 



• ' SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. HV 

There is an undying hatred, a sovereign contempt in the breast of every man, 
for the neighbour who would, under the name of humayiiti/, pilfer the property 
of another ; or under the protection of Constitutions and laics^ would wantonly, 
without cause and without provocation, trample on the rights, and impose upon 
the confidence of a weaker party. It is on account of this unconquerable feeling 
in the heart of man, that we believe the strong North is unalterably hated by ^ 
the weak South, which is also, in this case, the injured party. Now that the pro- 
perty of the South is jiilfered by the North ; her rights tramjded under foot, her 
independence shaken, her sovereignty well nigh gone, her remonstrance ridiculed, 
her protest scoffed into silence ; her existence has indeed become a boon from 
the mighty North. Soon all friendships will be swallowed up in national animosity; 
the greatness of the past in the infamy of the pi'esent ; for the Union is now but ^ 
a shorter word for submission, and submission but another for infamy, shame, de- 
gradation — must we say coivardice ^ 

It was upon the similitude of the laws of the diftei-ent States that great hopes 
rested for the perpetuity of the Union. But, are those laws a pledge of Union ? 
Less than a century ago slavery was universally allowed by law. But during the 
early period of our national existence, several of the States thought proper to 
enact laws prohibiting slavery in their limits. Being urged by too fervent a zeal 
on behalf of the negro, the Northern people, in the exercise of their prerogative, 
rendered it necessary in the eyes of Southern statesmen to take some legislative 
steps to counteract the obvious effects of their ]iroceedings ; and none of these 
etTects were regarded more obnoxious than the tide of emancipated slaves from 
the North, which would inevitably flow all over the South, if not positively pro- 
hibited in the first instance. It was therefore, prohibited in many, if not all, of ^ 
the Southern States,* that any negro coming from a non-slaveholding State, should 
be permitted to enter the State. This law has often b«en executed, and the con- 
stitutionality of it is unquestionable. But what is the result of it ? 'A vessel 
sails from Boston, for exam])le, with a cargo to be delivered at Charleston. The 
commerce between the States being regulated by the general government, every 
encouragement is held out for. free intercourse between them. But this vessel, 
being owned in Massachusets, is navigated by the citizens of Massachusetts, and 
some of these citizens thus navig;'ting the vessel happen to be negroes. Now 
these negroes are the acknowledged citizens of a sovereign State, and very prop- 
erly deem themselves entitled to all the considerations appertaining to other citi- 
zens of their State, among which, the right to go into any other State \n pursuit 
of business or pleasure is one. Much to their surprise, however, on entering 
Charleston harbour, their vessel is boarded by a pubhc officer, and the negroes 
are informed that, notwithstanding they are citizens o^* Massachusetts, they are 
not looked upon as such in South-Carolina ; and in obedience to the laws of the 
State, they will not be permitted to remain at large Avithin her limits. On the 
landing of the vessel, these negro citizens of Massachusetts are marched up to 
the district jail of South-Carolina, and there retained until the vessel has unloaded, 
taken in a cargo, and is ready to sail ; when they are re-conducted to their vessel 
and permitted to depart. The question then comes up, is this proceeding consti- 
tutional ? Is it constitutional for South-Carolina to confine within the limits of a 
jail-yard any negro citizen of a non-slaveholding State, who comes within her 
limits ? It is answered that such citizens must either keep themselves out of the 
State, or must be amenable to the law if they come in it. In the slaveholding 
States the presumption is, that all negroes are slaves ; in the free-States the pre- 
sumption is, that all negroes are free. The Southern man thinks his fugitive slave 

* In Maryland. Virginia, South-Caroliua, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and we believe 
many others. 



118 THE UISUNIONIST; OR, 

ought to be delivered up to him by the people of the North ; and the Northern 
man thinks his fellow-citizens, though they be negroes, ought to be permitted to 
go at large as other people at the South. The Northern man says :* '"If the 
Constitution gives the Southern planter a right to seize his slave in New-York or 
Massachusetts, equally exphcit is the grant to citizens of those States to enjoy all 
the rights of citizenship in South-tJarolina. Yet if certain of our citizens, free- 
holders and electors at home, think proper to visit that State, a prison is the only 
dwelling they are permitted to occupy ; and should the State to which they be- 
long, send an agent to enquire why they are immured in a jail, and to bring their 
case before the Supreme Court of the United States, he is compelled to tlee at the 
hazard of his life." The Southern man says, if the people of the North had never 
harbored abolition societies among them, whose sole object can be no other than 
the instigation ofour slaves to disobedience and desertion, such laws would never 
have been called into existence. The State of Massachusetts, feeling bound to 
J defend the rights of her citizens on board her ships in the port of another State, 
Being on these occasions more tenacious of her people's rights than she was when 
the h5ritish were impressing her seamen in 1812. And, feeling agrieved at what 
she deems both a violation of the Constitution, and of the law of nations ; sends 
a formal ambassador to remonstrate against the proceeding, and for other pur- 
poses. This not being altogether an admissible thing, according to the notions of 
propriety entertained by citizens of South-Carolina, the extraordinary envoy is 
induced informally to re-embark, without having had more than sufficient time to 
make known the dignity of his mission. Diplomatic intercourse is thus cruelly 
cut short, between two loving sisters of this most loving and most glorious Union. 
Thee»w//, being nothing loath, is further induced to present his credentials in the 
State of Louisiana. But there, alas, he finds his mission is a mockery, and is forced to 
return with a melancholy brow to recount the danyers of the South, in the midst 
of admiring New-England patriots, and inwardly exult in the delightful conscious- 
ness of being '' the noblest Roman of them all." 

The most fruitful source of discord between the States, arising out of conflict- 
ing laws, is the general practice in the Northern States, with regard to the deliv- 
ery of fugitive or stolen slaves. The provision of the Constitution on this sub- 
ject, according to decisions of the Supreme Court, leaves it in the power of the 
owner to recover his slave without obstruction, in any State or Territory belong- 
ing to the Government. This is the spirit and intention of the Constitution. It 
is the law of the land, but it is one of those laws which do not carry the execu- 
tive principle along with them. However clear this law may appear, it i^ in practice 
vi null, eftectually nullified, for, in a community where every bod}' is opposed to 
the law, it can easily be conceived how difficult it would be for a hated slaveholder 
to capture his slave without the assistance of the proper officers of the State. 
Thus the provision of the Constitution is rendered subservient to the laws or 
caprices of the State or the mob. Unless, then, the free States co-operate with 
the Constitution in this particular, or at least allow its officers and police to do so, 
the protection of the rights of the slaveholder, guaranteed by the Constitution, 
is absolutely denied him by the free States. To such an extent, is this the case, 
^ that most of the Northern States have passed laws, ])reventing State officers and 
tribunals from interposing /or the arrest or delivery of fugitive slaves. 

It is somewhat remarkable that the very States which are now most earnest in 
their opposition to this clause of the Constitution, are the very States with whom 
the idea first originated. The Veritable New-England States! Mr. Webster, 
their .greatest man, says so. New-England, says he, "it is well known, is the 
chosen seat of the Abolition presses and the Abolition societies. Here it is, prin- 

*See Judge Jay's letter to Hon. "Wm. Nelson, M. C, from New-York. 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 119 

cipally, that the former cheer the morning by full columns of lamentations over 
the fate of human beings, free Ijy nature, and by a law above the Constitution ; 
but sent back, nevertheless, chained and manacled, to slavery and to stripes. And 
the latter refresh themselves from daily toil, by orgies of the night, devoted to the 
same outpourings of philanthropy ; mingling, all the while, their anathemas at 
what they call " man catching," witli the most horrid and profane objurgations of 
the Christian Sabbath, and, indeed, of the whole of Divine Revelation. They 
sanctity their philanthropy by irreligion and profanity ; they manifest their charity 
by contempt of God and his commandments." 

Yes, the same New-England whose proceedings against the Quakers we have 
mentioned in another place, is the source of this very clause. In the eio-hth arti- 
ticle of confederation of the old "New England Confederacy," framed in 1643 
it is agreed, says Mr. Webster, " that if any servant run away from his master 
into any other of these confederated jurisdictions, that, in such cases, upon the 
certificate of one magistrate in the jurisdiction out of which the said servant fled, 
or upon other due proof, the said servant shall be delivered, either to his master 
or any other that pursues and brings such certificate or proof" In the " articles 
of agreement," of 1650, between that confederacy and the Governor of New 
Netherlands — now New-York — it was sti]nilated " that the same way and course 
concerning fugitives should be observed between the English colonies and New 
Netherland, as had been established in the articles of Confederation between the 
EngHsh colonies themselves." These were the precedents, the unquestionable 
authority upon which Mr. Nathan Dane, of Massachusetts, based his provision in 
relation to the subject in the celebrated ordinance of 1787, which was drawn up 
by him. And it was from that ordinance that the provision in the present Con- 
stitution was in substance borrowed. No body objected to the clause then as the 
awful violation of rigJds which it is now pretended to be esteemed. Not one of 
the men of Massachusetts herself — the very cradle of human rights — not even 
her Hancock or her Adams, nor even her Rufus King objected to it then. But 
now the far-seeing eyes of greater intellects discern the' unrighteousness of it. 
Nou) we must have a jury, a jury to try not a criminal, but a runaway servant. 
Next perhaps we will have a jury to try a truant school boy. Then a jury to try 
an unruly son. Then a jury to try a pugnacious wife. And then, who knows, a 
jury to try ones own mortal self; a jury to try this mortal clay so sunk from im- 
mortality. Ah, that report of the thirteen was famous indeed. It learns us 
divers lessons, but this lesson on the "jury trial" of runaway slaves \s, peculiar in 
the extreme. We can imagine the sage composer wrapt up in the deep folds of 
his originality as the idea first flashed across his mind ; there must have been some- 
thing awful in the scene ; how like another " wonder of the world" he must have 
paused in his reflections that, other men might know he had caught an idea which 
as '■'•grand, gloomy, and peculiar.'" 

This "jury" part of the report gives us an opportunity to call up the analogy 
between ihe British abolition agitation and ours. The first cause of Biitish 
legislation on the subject of slavery is, generally speaking, very much overlooked 
on account of its apparent insignificance. No positive action towards abolition 
was ever dreamed of in Great Britain, even in private circles of society, until the 
question of right of property in a runaioay slave was discussed in the Court of 
the King's l^ench. And the principles involved in that case* are precisely the 
same as those which would be involved in our Courts, if the system of jury trials 
recommended in the report of the committee is ever adopted. The first circum- 
stance which produced any visible eftect in England, was the case of a slave be- 
longing to a West India planter, who escaped from his master while in England. 

* The case of James Somerset, already mentioned. 



120 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

The slave, after running away, had been recaptured and returned to the master, 
and by him was conducted to a vessel in which he was about to embark. The 
slave was taken away from the vessel by an ofKcer of the law, and the question 
raised whether the planter had the right to take his slave. The case resulted in 
the o inion that when the negro landed in England he became free. He was 
therefore liberated, because there was no positive law in England which author- 
ized slavery. Heretofore, abolition was confined chiefly to Quakers, and their 
influence in society amounted to nothing, till the efforts of a single individual 
made an issue which resulted in the overthrow of a whole system. That issue 
was the question of the right of j^roperty. 

Now, suppose this ''jury" system of the Committee of Thirteen were to be 
adopted, and the runaway or abducted slave were to be empowered with the 
right of claiming a jury to decide whether he is a slave or not. It matters not 
so much, in point of principle, where the jury sits, whether it be in Philadel{)hia 
or Charleston, in Boston or New Orleans, who is in reality to be tried ? Is it the 
slave, or is it the mas'er ? Is it to test the claims of the slave or those of the 
master ? Who is willing, who is prepared, to have his right of property in his 
slave disputed, and perhaps, owing to some technicality or local prejudice, 
annulled, because the abolitionist of the North has succeeded in engrafting such 
a clause in the law of the land ? Where is the spirit of a freeman when his 
constitutional rights are to be made questionable by the whims or disaffection of 
his ungrateful slave? Could any Southern man make up his mind to sit on a 
jury to try the validity of his neighbours claim to the services of his slave, which 
claim, be it remembered, has never been disputed since that slave was born, but 
is now made questionable because some abolition pamphlet has poisoned the 
affections and deranged the mind of that slave to such an extent as to induce 
disobedience and desertion ? Is there one man in the whole South who is pre- 
pared to see the slave, whenever he may think proper to elope into another State, 
hurl defiance into his master's teeth, dispute his authority, and actually appeal 
to the laws made by Northern abolitionists, by calling a jury of citizens to for- 
sake their business and come to deliberate over his dogged impudence ? The 
text of the Constitution upon which this part of the " report " is based, requires 
that fugitive slaves "shall be delivered up on the claim of the party to whom 
such service or labour may be due." It is admitted in the report, that " in all 
cases of the arrest within a State of persons charges with oifences ; in all cases of 
pursuit of fugitives from justice from one State to another State ; in all cases of 
V extradition provided for by treaties between foreign powers, the 2}rocreding uni- 
formly is tsinnmary. It has never been thought necessary to ajyply, in cases of 
that kind, the forms and ceremonies of a final trial.'''' The summary proceeding 
here refers to the capture or delivery o^ the fugitive ; the final trial which awaits 
the return of the fugitive to his own State refers to the criminal. The final 
trial is not to decide whether the individual is a fugitive, but whether he is a 
criminal, or a violator of the law. But the trial recommended in the report is 
quite different from either " the summary proceeding" or "the final ti-ial." It is 
meant, not to decide whether the individual is a fugitive, but whether he is a 
slave. Thus, the free citizen who flies from the yoke of the law which he has 
violated, is to be delivered, up by a summary proceeding, Avithout any conditions 
being imposed upon the pursuing party; whilst the slave, who flies from the 
yoke of his lawful master, Avhenever the freak may enter his brain, is to be deli- 
vered up only on condition that the " claimant" or master shall return the fugi- 
tive " to that county in the State from which he fled, and there take him before 
a competent tribunal, (viz. a jury,) and allow him to assert and establish his 
freedom if he can, affordikg to iiim for that purpose, all needful facilities.'''' 
In other words, whenever a negro, either through his own designs, or those of 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 121 

some contemptible abolitionist, thinks proper to escape into a neighbouring- State, 
his master is not only to incur the expense of travelling perhaps a long distance, 
employing agents of the law, besides being put to numerous other inconveni- 
ences, in order to regain his projierty ; but on returning home, instead of putting 
the nefifro to work as he has been accustomed, he is at the request of the negro, 
to surrender him up, to wait like a gentleman till the sitting of the court, when 
he will summon a jury on the vaguest pretensions to freedom. In this way the 
citizen's right is to be tanjpered with by his own slave ; and the shives rebellion 
or the abolitionists treason is to be made matter of grave discussion in the pre- 
sence of the outraged master, and at his expense. We say at his expense, for 
the costs of every kind will eventually fall upon him. All this, too, is to be 
done, according to the report, " in deference to the feelings and prejudices 
which prevail in the non-slaveholding States." Now, any body knows, 
who has ever read the (.Constitution, that it requires fugitive slaves to be delivei'ed 
up to their bwners. And every body knows, who has taken the trouble to en- 
quire, that the laws of the several States award freedom to any negro who is free^ 
even though he be claimed as a slave. Then, since the fugitives must be delivered 
up, and since free negroes do enjoy the protection of law against a deprivation of 
their freedom, why should Congress enact this new jury hnv^- The report truly 
says, it should be done " in deference to the feelings and prejudices which prevail 
in the non-slaveholding States." Here, then, is that spirit of cnrnpromise and 
mutual concession existing between the South and North, elegantly illustrated. 
The South has both master and slave to protect; the North, both "feeling and' 
prejudice " to gratify. The South, in order to protect master and slave, or, in 
other words, to preserve its political existence, must so far gratify the feelings and 
prejudices of the North, as to allow the Federal Goverimient to step in between 
master and slave, and fix conditions to the ownership of the one, and give incom- 
patible rights to the other. This is compromise ! this is concession. But such 
as can only end by placing both master and slave at the South, to dance attend- 
ance on the whims and fancies, the "feelings and prejudices" of the Lordly 
North. Trial by jury ! why that is the peculiar boon of liberty. When the 
day arrives, on which a slave is to usurp his master's rule, and openly appeal to 
a jury to sustain him, whatever may be the voice of the jury, a precedent will 
have been established, by means of which, the doom of the South will be sealed ; 
abolition already accomplished. When that day comes, as come it surely will, if 
this Union lasts a few years more, the exhausted South, in the agony of despair, 
will remember, when it is too late, what 

" You and I have heard our fathers say, 
There was a Brutus once, that would have brooFd 
The eternal devil to keep his state in Rome.'' 

The question may well be asked what bond of union is there between these 
States. What is law in one is not law in another. Public opinion in one is op- 
posed to public opinion in another. What is respectable in one is debasing in 
another. The Federal Government acknowledges that man to be a citizen in one 
State, which in another it calls a slave and denies the right of citizenship. The 
unfortunate negro gentleman at the North is bandied about between government 
and society, law and pul)lic opinion, always basking in a full blaze of hideous 
mockery. A citizen here, a slave there. Where the law of One State will arrest 
and imprison, or banish, the law of another confers citizenship and equality. 
Where the laws of one State prohibit and denounce one practice, those of another 
command and encourage it. W^hat is openly professed and esteemed essential in 
one quarter, is abjured and considered crime in another. Even in the <>nce digni- 
fied Senate, the incongruity finds a cheering echo. The intercourse between the 



122 THE disunionist; or, 

sovereio"!! States is in some instances of such a nature as would ensure open hostili- 
ties between foreign powers. Not only are citizens of one section denied entrance 
into another. Not only is the property of one section openly stolen by citizens 
of ano'Jier with impunity. Not only is disobedience to law in one quarter 
carefully instigated by citizens of another. But the very legislative and executive 
departments of almost every State are already in a menacing attitude. When 
the government of one State transmits to the government of another, a corres- 
pondence of such a nature as to be deemed insulting, and to be returned with 
contempt to its authors, there can be but little friendship between them. Union 
between them finds no stability in intercourse, but is rather shaken by that con- 
tempt which too much familiarity breeds. And this is not confined to two States 
only, it is sown broadcast throughout 20,000,000 inhabitants of thirty States. 
Can any one be acquainted with the transactions of these thirty States for the 
last few years and think them thirty sisters? We see some States declaring the 

vj extension of slavery to be a policy they will not sanction ; whilst we see others 
no less fixed in their determination not to submit to any restrictions. We see 
gentlemen sent to Congress by some States to oppose, under all circumstances, 
the very measures which are to be unfiinchingly supported by gentlemen from 
others. We see the comparatively harmless controversies of political parties 
rapidly sinking behind the huge giant of Geographical animosity. \.Vhere the 

^ great ruling majority of either of the leading political parties was once distributed 
in every State, we now find the galloping approach of a geographical concentra- 
tion of a majority. Is the Union, then, in a wholesome state — is it in vi, peaceful 
state? Are the people literally at peace, or are they not at war, the worst of 
wars, a war of words, a war in the dark, at war with swords sheathed, hands 
tied, and only able to buffit and butt about in the utmost profoundity of darkness 
and corruption ? It matters not now where the fault lies, the time to discuss tJiat 
has long since passed. We speak of facts as they exist. Nothing but an issue 
is wanted to develope their for-reaching influence. There was a time when the 
South could condescend to argue for her rights and discuss the merits of her 
cause ; but that time has passed. Her great misfortune is, that she has too long 
submitted to the bandying of words, too long in argueing, too slow in acting. 
We cannot think, after what has been seen, that the religion, laws, customs, 

■^ manners and pursuits, taken collectively, of the people of this Union, indicate a 
long duration of our present Republic. 

It has been said, in many quarters, that all the people of the South are not 
slaveholders, but that a considerable number have no connection whatever with 
slavery ; that is true in the sense in which it is meant, but it is equally true that 
all the people at the North are not abolitionists. Indeed we know a vast number 
of them have no s^npathy with abolitionists. But this does not alter the facts 
\ we refer to. The genius of the North is unquestionably adverse to slavery, 
while the genius of the South is inseparable from slavery. 

"The people of the North want simply to know if they can do anything for 
the abolition of slavery, without violating their constitutional faith. For this 
alternative they are not prepared, (as I admit they ought to be, if they had 
ever pledged themselves to the support of slavery,) but they are prepared for 
almost anything short of that. At any rate, they are prepared to stand by the 
constitution, if it supports liberty. If it be said that they are not, the speediest 
process by which to bring them to that state of preparation, is to prove to them 
that slavery is unconstitutional, and thus present to them the alternative of over- 
throwing the constitution for the support of slavery, or of standing by it in sup- 
port of freedom. 

In a speech at Charleston, on the 9th of March. 1847, Mr. Calhoun gave the 
following estimate of iHjpular feeling at the North, on the subject of slavery : 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 123 

He said, " They, (the people of the North,) may, in reference to the subject 
under consideration, be divided into four classes. Of these, the abolitionists 
proper — the rabid fanatics, who regard slavery as a sin, and thus regarding it, 
deem it their highest duty to destroy it, even should it involve the destruction of 
the Constitution and the Union — constitute one class. It is a small one, not 
probably exceeding j?i'c /)cr cent, of the population of those States. They voted, 
if I recollect coirectly, about fifteen thousand, or, at most, twenty thousand votes 
in the last test of their strength, in the State of New York, out of about four 
hundred thousand votes, which would give about five per cent. Their strength 
in that State, I would suppose, was fully equal to their average strength in the 
non-slaveholding States generally. 

" Another class consists of the great body of the citizens of those States, con- 
stituting at least seven-icnths of the whole, who, while they regard slavery as an 
evil, and as such, are disposed to aid in restricting and extirpating it, when it can 
be done consistently with the constitution, and without endangering the peace 
and prosperity of the country, do not regard it as a sin to be put down by all 
and every means. 

" Of the two others, one is a small class, perha])s not exceeding five per cent, 
of the whole, who view slavery as we do, more as an institution, and the only 
one, by which two races, so dissimilar as those inhabiting the slaveholding States, 
can live together in equal numbers, in peace and prosperity, and that its abolition 
would end in the expatriation of one or the other race. If they regard it as an 
evil, it is in the abstract, just as government and all its burdens, labour with all 
its toils, punishment with all its intlictioiis, and thousands of other things, are 
evils, when viewed in the abstract, but far otherwise when viewed in the concrete, 
because they prevent a greater amount of evil than what they inflict, as is the 
case with slavery as it exists with us. 

" The remaining class is much larger, but still relatively a small one, less, per- 
haps, than twenty per cent, of the whole, but possessing great activity and politi- 
cal influence in proportion to its numbers. It consists of the political leaders of 
the respective parties, and their partisans and followers. They, for the most part, 
are perfectly indifterent about abolition, and are ready to take either side, for or 
against, according to the calculation of the political chances, their great and lead- 
ing object being to carry the elections, especially the presidential, and thereby 
receive the honours and emolument, incident to power, both in the Federal and 
State government." 

This estimate is allowed to be correct by Northern writers ; it is })robab]y suf- 
ficiently accurate for all practical purposes. Adopting it as correct, it shows that 
five per rent, only of the North sympathize with the South ; that the other 
ninety-five 2>er cent, (seventy-five per cent, acting from principle, and twenty per 
cent, for spoils,) "are disposed to aid in restricting and extirpating slavery, when 
it can be done consistently with the constitution, and without endangering the 
peace and prosperity of the country." 

Mr. Webster says: "It is my firm opinion, this day, that within the last twenty 
years as much money has been collected and paid to the abolition societies, abo- 
lition presses, and abolition lecturers, as would purchase the freedom of every 
slave, man, woman and child, in the State of Maryland, and send them all to 
Liberia." 

The total number of slaves in Maryland, says Mr. Horace Mann in reply, 
according to the last census, amounted to 89,405. At $250 apiece — which is 
but about half the value commonly assigned to Southern slaves by Southern 
men — this would be $2-J,2V3,7oO. Allowing $30 each for transportation to Libe- 
ria, without any provision for them after their arrival there, the whole sum would 
be $25,0.38.000 — in round numbers twenty-five millions of dollars! — more than 



124 THE disunionist; or, 

a million and a quarter in each year, and about thirty-live hundred dollars per 
day. " I had not supposed the abolitionists had such resources at their com- 
mand." 

Now, with such authoirty as Calhoun and Webster, not to mention the distin- 
guished and rising Mr. Mann of Massachusetts, no one can accuse us of error. 
Putting down the population of the North at the \'ery low estimate of 12,000,000, 
the abolitionists proper " the rabid fanatics" as Mr. Calhoun calls them, being 
jive per cent, of this number, would amount to 600,000. Now we are certain 
this number is not moi'e than ttvo-thirds oi ^\\ i\\(i abolitionists, «< the present 
day, but for the sake of preventing any possible objection, on the score of the 
number being too large, we will take the 600,000 as the average number of abo- 
lition population, men and women and their children. Mr. Webster says that 
these 600,000 have spent as much money in furtherance of their schemes as 
would buy up every negro in Maryland and transport them to Libeiia. Mr. 
Mann denies it, and to support his denial, shows that the negroes in Maryland 
would cost 825,000, 000, to be carried to Liberia. But we, in bur turn, deny Mr. 
Mann and confirm Mr. Webster, by bringing Mr. Calhoun to witness that these 
$25,000,000 were the contributions of a population of 600,000, in tiventy years, 
as Mr. AVebster says. According to these numbers, each individual would aver- 
age $41.66 for his twenty years contribution, or $2.08 for his annual oftering on 
the altar of liberty! This is surely not much. Why, Mr. Mann miglit double 
the expense of the measure and it would still be but $4.16 for each philanthropist. 
Whereas we are sure they each go as high as $5.00 for their African divinities. 

But we return to the analysis of the Northern population. We see that, in 
1847, ninety-five out of every hundred at the North, was, through principle or 
motives of interest, opposed to slavery. W^e cannot doubt that a similar investi- 
gation of the feelings of the Southern people would result in finding at least 
ninety-five out of every hundred, including slaves in the number, in fovour of 
slavery, either through motives of interest or from principle. But these immense 
majorities of the people in the two sections are not in that state of indifterence 
they were in a few years ago ; the Northern people do not ponder so much on 
the constitution as they were wont to do ; they have learnt a higher laiv than the 
constitution ; the Southern people do not sleep so soundly ; they do not kiss so 
sweetly the i-od that smites them as they were wont to do ; they have learnt a 
higher theme than submission, a dearer name than Union. These great masses. 
of people are not friends ! To say the least, they only await the issue which 
\ must soon enveluix- theivi. Let the issue be made, let the two sections once be 
called up to the mark, to say shall this or that be, and the most sanguine adorer 
of the Union would be convinced that, where a man's treasure is, there also will 
his heart be. Whether he be no slaveholder or no abolotionist, the man would 
do violence to his impulses and his interests who would not identify his actions 
"with those of the section to which he belongs. 

In an attempt at ridicule, the Northern press, and no small portion of the 
Southern people, have ])ointed to South-Carolina nullification, and scoffed the 
idea of Southern unanimity and Southern resistance ; but it would be well for 
such persons to hush their taunts, and behave with the gravity which becomes 
the present crisis. That same affair of nullification, from beginning to end, what- 
ever may be said with regard to the expediency of it, affords the most valuable 
instruction in the present state of aflfairs. It is, however, totally inapplicable to 
the case in point, and, whenever it is held up as evidence of Southern politics, on 
the question now before the country, we cannot but think it is done in a spirit of 
childish ignorance and timid incredulity. That question involved principles quite 
distinct from those in the present controversy. Nullification sprang out of cir- 
cumstances too distinct from the slavery question ever to be confounded with it. 



SKCESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 125 

The history of the aftair, as well as a conjecture as to its effects, were briefly 
summed up in these words, more than twenty years ago. "In an evil hour, they 
(the Northern people) not satisfied with the domestic market, which was fairly 
open to them, required a monopoly at home, making all interests tributary to 
to their speculations, as a means of enabling them to contend with other nations 
in foreign markets. Politicians seized upon this excited spirit as a means to pro- 
mote their personal views. The peace of the country has been shaken, it is 
now no longer a question of political economy, but a contest upon hio'her princi- 
ples ; and hostility and sectional feelings have been created, that may act inju- 
riously, not only to this interest, (the manufacturing interest,) but on the Union 
itself, for a longer period than the superficial will readily imao-ine." 

We will perhaps be pardoned for alluding to this subject, which has so lono- 
been buried in the past. When we see our native State, the land of our birth 
and most endearing associations, pointed out as all that is vile and imbecile, we 
cannot refrain from expressions of contempt for her revilers, and admiration for 
her independence. It is unfortunate for the South that such a spirit has been 
fostered against her. on account of nullification, as exists in many parts of the 
Union. The wily politician of the North, and the political traitor of the South, 
are not slow in taking advantage of this contracted spirit, to turn the noble little 
State into ridicule. But these efforts are futile. So far from being derogatory 
they are in fact complimentary, for, as things now stand, they show how early 
she discerned the darkened brow of battle lower. They show that she was 
promjjt to burnish her armour, gird up her loins, and set her lance in rest. 
Without regard to the conduct of her neighbours, her banner has been unfurled, 
and she is to be seen in her true colours. Her crest has waved hio-h enouo-h to 
be seen, and to be felt; and, but little doubt remains, that if every Southern 
State had but acted as she did, in the early stages of that controversy, the Union 
would not be the tottering cripple it now is. 

It is indeed strange, aye, jiaasinff strange^ that the indignation of the whole 
Union should fall upon jf;oor Carolina, for nullifying a measure which the world 
must pronounce oppressive. Yet every State at the Noith can pass laws which 
posilively and most effectually nullify the constitution itself, in that clause, for 
instance, relating to fugitive slaves. When South-Carolina vul/ijies the tariff 
acts — acts which she believes to be unconstitutional, and oppressive to her, as a 
sovereign — the whole Union is up in arms against her, and the warlike Massa- 
chusetts steps forward, to ''■clothe the President with extraordi ary powers, in 
order to reduce her to submissioji ;" but when Massachusetts, or any other free 
State, mi lifies a clause of the constitution, not one word is said, it is all right. 
Sliame on you, shame on you of the South, who would endeavour to ridicule 
Carolina for being at least open and manly in resisting what she deems oppres- 
sion, on the part of a government which is a hundred tiraes stronger than her- 
self; while the mean and foithless theft of private property, by the authority and 
injunction of sovereign States, you seldom talk of, and then always with at least 
becoming gravity. Talk not of bluster. Bluster is nothing in the scale with 
PERJURY ! Is Carolina a Hotspur "i Methinks we know of Belzabubs. 

The present agitation partakes of no intermediate course. The issue once 
made, there can be no neutral party. There can be no conservative party ; every 
community must take up its position, j»ro or con. The question then recurs is 
the issue likely ever to be made ? It would be well for every man seriously to 
consider for AimW/", is liYxkaXy ever to co7ne? Let the past be a guide for" the 
future. If it is found, upon investigation, that there has been any approach to 
such an issue, for the last fifty years, we may take it f(>r granted that there will 
continue to be one for the future, all extraneous causes remaining the same. Any 
one, having satisfied himself on -this point, is then prepared to form an opinion 



126 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

as to the probable result of the present agitation. If any one thinks, as we do 
that the issue must covie, let him consider the following suggestions. 

When the present government was formed and the constitution finally adopted, 
every one will concede that the merits of slaveiy had no place in the politics of 
the country, neither was it ever mentioned on the floors of Congress, except in a 
dignified and courteous manner. The official intercourse between the Southern 
and Northern representatives and senators was then harmonious and conciliating. 

All the civility and etiquette which should characterize the conduct of gentle- 
men, was then tenaciously observed. At that time, the slaveholding interest was 
undisturbed by Northern politicians, for the obvious reason, that they had it not 
in their power, and possibly were not disposed to do so. The Union was litei'ally 
an experiment. There was no manufacturing interest, no mining interest, no 
peculiar local commercial interest, no California interest, to be made the darling 
care of Congress. The interest of agriculture identified, then, as now, with sla- 
very, was the great concern of tlie country ; and, as a consequence, the slavehold- 
ing States formed the most important section. They possessed greater wealth 
and a much greater extent of territory than the free States. The population of 
the two sections was about equal ; but, only three-fifths of the slaves being repre- 
sented, the North had a small majority of Representatives in Congress. We will 
directly see how that representation has increased. Each peculiar section of 
country had its own commercial emporium ; each exported and imported for 
itself. In those brighter days, when the country was just emerging from its in- 
fantine struggle for existence ; when every citizen, as he trod the soil of his State, 
felt the exalting consciousness of having consecrated it as his right, by his own 
blood and treasure ; when States^ rights, as well as individual rights, had been 
lately carved out with the sword ; the Union of the States was a community of 
SOVEREIGNS, formed for honourable purposes, and Congress was an assemblage of 
men and gentlemen. In those days, the State Avas the sovereign, and Congress 
the agent, and the legislators knew the value of independence, for they had just 
earned it ; thev knew the worth of honour, for they were honourable. But now ! 



CHAPTER XV. 

" A government, on freedom's basis built, 
Has, in all ages, been the theme of song, 
And the desire of great and godlike men. 
For this the Grecian patriots fought ; — for this 
The noblest Roman died." 

A BRIEF historical review of the rise and progress of the Union and the con- 
stitution, will " tend to show the genius and value of the government." As early 
as 1*754, a (."ongress was held in Albany, at which seven States, or rather colonies, 
were represented. At this Congres.?, great efforts were made for the formation 
of a confederacy of all the colonies then existing, from New Hampshire to Geor- 
gia. It was unanimously resolved, by the assembled delegates, "that a union of 
the colonies was absolutely necessary for their preservation." A proposition to 
that effect was, however, rejected, not only by the crown, but by every jyrovincial 
assembly. The colonies were "jealous of each other's prosjierity, and divided by 
policy, institutions, prejudice and manners." So powerfully did these dividing 
influences operate in those early times, that Dr. Franklin, an eminent advocate of 
Union, observed, in 1760, "that a union of the colonies against the mother coun- 



• SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 127 

try was absolutely impossible, or, at least, without being forced by the most 
grievous tyranny and Dppression." In another quarter, it is declared " that the 
colonies had no principle of association amongst them, and that their manner of 
settlement, diversity of charters, conflicting interests, and mutual rivalshij) and 
jealousies, would render a union impossible." 

In 1775, another Congress assembled, to take care of the liberty of the coun- 
try ; and, soon after, a confederacy of the thirteen colonies was agreed upon. It 
was accomplished, however, exactly as was predicted by Dr. Franklin, lifteen 
years before; it was, forced upon the colonies by the tyranny of the crown. The 
direct and sole object of the union was resistance to a common danger. The ab- 
solute necessity of that union has never been doubted. But, as to any sympathy 
of interest, fellow-feeling, inducing a voluntary desire for union, their non-existence 
is evident, from the proceedings of those early Congresses. As an illustration of 
the fact, we have only to remember that, as early as June, 1776, Congress " un- 
dertook to digest and prepare articles of confederation ;" but, notwithstanding the 
same danger threatened tliem all, and although they " were contending for the 
same illustrious prize, it was not until the 15th of November, 1777, that Con- 
gress could so far unite the discordant interests and prejudices of thirteen distinct 
communities, as to agree to the articles of confederation. And when those arti- 
cles were submitted to the State legislatures, for the'r perusal and ratification, 
they were declared to be the result of impending necessity, and of a disposition 
for concihation, and that they were agreed to, not for their intrinsic excellence, 
but as being the best system which could be adapted to the circumstances of all, 
and, at the same time, afford any tolerable prospect of general assent." These 
difficulties, which, in a time of such stupendous danger, could present such obsta- 
cles to union, have been lurking behind the constitution ever since its formation. 
It is true, sixty years ago these difficulties were few and surmountable, the consti- 
tution was new and powerful. But now these difficulties have increase'd and 
multiplied apace with population and territory, while the constitution has lost its 
power proportionately. 

In 1786, some of the defects of the compact became so evident, that the le- 
gislature of Virginia made a proposition to the other States, for a convention of 
delegates, to devise measures for the regulation of commerce and foreign affairs. 
This proposition was responded to by five States, whose delegates assembled at 
Annapolis in September, of the same year. These delegates presented "a strong 
application to Congress for a general convention, to take into consideration the 
situation of the United States, and to devise such further provisions as should be 
proper, to render the federal government not a mere phantom, as heretofore, but 
a real government, adequate to the exigencies of the Union." Congress assented 
to the proposition, and, accordingly, a convention of all the Stales was called, to 
meet in Philadelphia in May, 1787. This occasion was, perhaps, the most solemn 
and eventful ever witnessed in America since the first settlement of the colonies. 
This convention " combined a very rare union of the best talents, experience, 
information, patriotism, probity and character which the country afforded." And, 
after a few months tranquil deliberation, a plan of government was decided 
upon, which now forms the Constitution of the United States. This plan was 
brought about by comjiromise, not only between parties having different in- 
terests, but between sections of country having diff'erent institutions, and con- 
flicting idms of iJolicy and right, as well as statesmen "having widely different 
views of the princiules on which a federal government ought to be constructed." 
But though there were many opposite opinions entertained by the statesmen who 
concocted this plan, it is certain they were all of opinion that it was an experi- 
ment, it Avas one of anticipated value, and that if practice and experience proved 
it to be of insufficient p)r(ictical value it should then be abandoned for a better. 



128 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, • 

That the people vvlio make a government have the right to alter or destroy that 
government ; that, in the formation of a government, it may be proper for one 
party to yield to the otlier a di.'^piited point, for the sake of unanimity and strength ; 
but that, ivhen the government is formed, it should be on sound principles, clearly 
set forth and distinctly understood; annd that, after the government is formed, it 
should be a government of principle, with the rights, powers and privileges of 
each component part fixed and determined, without any farther yielding of opin- 
ions by any party : for, where a right is defined, for one party to yield it to the 
counter claims of another is concession to usurpation, surrender to conquest, and 
immediately terminates the previous equality of the parties. 

The plan was submitted to the States for their acceptance or rejection, and in 
1790 it became the law of the land. The doctrines expounded at this conven- 
tion, and the enhghtened phdosophy of the plan it suggested, are too well known 
to admit of any remark from us. It is sufficient to qualify the fact, that " the 
peaceable adoption of this government, under all the circumstances which attend- 
ed it, i)resented the case of an effort of deliberation, combined with a sinrit of 
amity and of mutual concession, which was without example ;" by adding, that 
the peaceful continuation of this government, as the nation grows rich, acquires 
power, population and territory, will require a spirit, not only of amity and 
mutual concession, but of forbearance, submission, equity and good faith, equally 
without example, and 'perhaps beyond thejiower of human nature to exhibit. 

It would, of course, be impossible to form a constitution, in which every con- 
tingency that could ever arise in the history of a nation, would be expressly and 
individually provided for. It would, therefore, be impracticable to frame a con- 
stitution which woidd require literal obedience. It was in consequence of this, 
that the old articles of confederation, which 'gave no power to government, but 
such as was expressly granted, were changed in the new, so as to obviate the 
necessity of literal construction. In the new articles, the word expressly is care- 
fully omitted. So that when a question arises, as to whether this or that power 
is granted by the constitution to this or that branch of the Federal Government, 
it is to be decided, not by the letter always, but by a fair construction of the 
whole instrument, and a careful regard to the history of its formation. Mr. Jef- 
ferson has laid down a general ])rinciple on the subject, whicli will never fail when 
strictly observed. He says : " The capital and leading object of the constitution 
was, to leave with the States all authorities which respected their own citizens 
only, and to transfer to the United States those which respected citizens of foreign 
or other States ; to make us (that is, the States) several as to ourselves, but one 
as to all others^'' 

Now, this compact is every where acknowledged to be as perfect as in the na- 
ture of things it can well be, and if it ever fails to effect that for which it was 
intended, it\vill not be the fault of the instrument, but of those in whose hands 
the instrument i^ placed. The constitution is unimpeachable, and the omission of 
the word " expressly,'' just alluded to, gives it one of its peculiar charms. But 
it is now evident, that in order to aj'rive at a fair construction, the spirit of amity 
and mutual concession in which the instrument was created, must always actuate 
the parties construing it, to precisely the same extent as it actuated the parties 
framing it. And the reason of this is, that a set of precedents have been estab- 
hshed, which place it in the jiower of politicians who are dishonest themselves, to 
place a dishonest construction on the constitution, whenever sufficient latitude is 
allowed. An example of such precedents, is to be found in the wholesale sur- 
render of her " rights, powers and privileges," by the Southern States, in that ill- 
advised and humiliating measure, called the Missouri Compromise. 

In the early days of the Union, the people were accustomed to rely on f >rms, 
and to confide in written constitutions ; in their patriotism, virtue and good faith, 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 129 

they never dreamt that the constitution, the creature of the greatest men of the 
age, could ever f;x!l short of practical perfection. But sixty eventful years have 
passed since then. Every statesman of that day has long since been numbered 
■with the dead. That generation has passed away, and a new people has spruno- 
up in their place. Though the constitution they created is still the same, their 
offspring is a difterent race. New issues have sprung up, scarcely to have been 
anticipated, which cannot ftnl to bring to an early development, the principles of 
discord pointed out by such men as Franklin, and which have ever since been 
lurking in our system. It is now apparent that the construction, that fair con- 
struction which the constitution requires, can be so completelV distorted, as not 
only to " give a new direction to the action of our system, but, leavin<y its out- 
ward and visible form unchanged, might derange its vital functions, and give it a 
morbid energy, an irregular, diseased and pernicious operation ; that a constitu- 
tion settled upon fair, mutual, and liberal compromise and concession,' might 
become unfit for the very purposes for which it was organized, might break down 
every barrier which has been created to restrain it, might assume those very 
powers which were intended to be withheld, and which, if they had been granted, 
would have assured its rejection ; and this, by the technical construction of some 
doubtful expressions." There was a time when the experiment involved in 
the constitution was hopeful and promising. In those brighter days, whatever 
political division of parties there may have been, each party was found in every 
portion of the country, and " asperity of feeling was e.\Qvy where tempered by 
daily intercourse in the city, the village, or the neighborhood." But now that 
soothing intercourse is inevitably disappearing before the destructive influence of 
geographical divisions, even in parties of the same politics. And if this must be 
who is there to gainsay it ? It is true, some faint echoes have been heard from 
the Northern press, and some surprising demonstrations made in the Senate by 
antiquated and disappointed demagogues, to the effect that the majority of the 
people of this Union would not allow the minority to depart from anions them. 
The North will not allow the South to dissolve the Union. Preposterous ! But 
more of this anon. 

It is now more than twenty-live years that the North has been openly depriv- 
ing the South of those rights, powers and privileges guarantied by the constitu- 
tion. Every year injury has been heaped upon injury, wrong upon wi'ono-. It 
took less than twenty-live years for Great Britain and America to separate from 
each other ; and it took less injury to make the colonies revolt. But, within late 
years, injury to the South has been changed to degradation, and wrono- to pun- 
ishment. It is the natural right of every free ijeople to withdraw from tyranny. 
The principle of self preservation gave a sanction to the separation of the thirteen 
colonies from the mother country ; the same principle will always sanction the 
separation of the South from the North, immediately as the government foils to 
to carry out the ends for which it was intended, even if there was no inherent 
right to do so. For "when a government established over any people, beeome's 
incompetent to fulfil its purpose, or destructive to the essential ends for which it 
was instituted, it is the right of that people, founded on the law of nature and 
the reason of mankind, and supported by the soundest authority, and some very 
illustrious precedents, to throw off such government, and provide new o-uards for 
their future security." But self-preservation is not the only law upon which a 
dissolution of the Union would be sanctioned. It is a princi])le universally ac- 
cepted, that all power is originally vested in the people; and all //-fe governments 
are founded on their authority, and are instituted for their peace, safety and hap- 
piness. Now, if this be true, if the peoi)le are the source of all power in a free 
government, and if this be a free government ; then the people, so far as the dis- 
tribution of power is concerned, are the sovereign and supreme arbiters and they 
9 ' ^ 



y 



130 THE disunionist; or, 

can give and take away at the will of the majority. And when the powder which 
they have delegated by written constitutions, or otherwise intrusted to the care of 
ao-ents, is turned against them, they have the right of separation or revolution, 
PEACEABLY IF THEY CAN, FORCIBLY IF THEY MUST, it may, therefore, be pre- 
sumed—upon the groimd that this purports to be a free governmeat, and that 
each State is an independent sovereign — that when the General Government fails 
of its end, it is the right of any State to separate from the government, provided 
it is the will of the majority of the citizens of that State. But if one State en- 
joys this right, another does also ; it is, therefore, the right of any number of 
States to withdraw from the Union, when (he majority of the citizens in each so 
will it. If, then, the Southern States think proper, to withdraw from the confe- 
deracy, they have the right to do so. And the only question, would be the ways 
and means. 

The constitution, it is urged, binds the States to perpetual union. Where, 
then, let us inquire, does the constitution derive this overwhelming authority. 
We all know that after having been agreed upon in a general convention, it was 
submitted to each individual State for ratification. It was adopted by the volun- 
tary act of each State, through the medium of conventions. It, therefore, derives 
its whole authority from the conventions of the people of the difierent States, 
held within their respective hmits. Throughout the compact, the legislatures of 
the difierent States, as representing the sovereignties of those States, are regarded 
as the constituents and as the contracting powers. So much so, that the contract 
itself constitutes the State legislatures the organs for proposing amendments. 
But, in order to amend the constitution, they must have the right or power " to 
consider the good or evil of the existing constitution," and to put their own un- 
biassed construction on the requirements of the contract. Moreover, the powers 
of the General Government are limited ; for all powers belong to the State gov- 
ernments, excepting only those delegated by them to the General Government, 
but no power belongs to the latter, exce])t such a- is granted by the former in the 
constitution. The Federal Government is, therefore, not a sovereignty, but the 
agent of a connnunity of sovereignties. This being the case, it is the preroga- 
tive of any one of these sovereignties, or any number of them, to dismiss their 
agent, or cease to employ their agent, whenever it is made manifest to them that 
this agent is overstepping his prescribed limits. There can be no doubt as to the 
spirit and design of the union., the term " can have no other meaning in our con- 
stitution, history and transactions than the word confederation^'' and is totally un- 
connected with any idea of indivisihility or consolidation, which persons may 
attach to the word. The union of the States rests upon a cove.nant entered into 
by them individually. And " when the terms of this covenant are supposed to be 
broken by any of them, as there is no common arbiter to decide between the par- 
ties, it is of necessity, that each State must judge for itself, and act as its own 
judgment may dictate. If in the honest exercise of this judgment any sovereign 
State declares the covenant broken by its co-States, and chooses to dissolve the 
Union thereby established for this cause, she has the perfect right to do so ; and 
this makes secession fiom the Union as to that party only." 

" This Union results from a compact between the States, to which they became 
parties in their sovereign capacities, with full powers and rights inherent in each, 
(as in all other compacts) to dissolve or to secede from such compacts, for breaches 
of any of its fundamental conditions or material stipulations, and of which each 
State of itself, anc^of necessity, must be the exclusive judge." 

The right of secession never was opposed in the former days of the Republic. 
No man was bold enough to denounce such solemn truths, such unshaken prin- 
ciples of common justice, till General Jackson issued his proclamation in 1832, 
against the South-Carolina Ordinance of Nullification. "Until then," says 'Ran- 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 131 

dolph of Roanoke^ " I undertake to say, that in the whole history of the consti- ^x 
tution, not a vestige remains of that invahiable right having ever been brouo-ht to 
question. Not a word recorded in the Madison Papers, exists a doubt upon the 
subject. Nothing that occurred in the Convention — nothing written in the Fede- 
rahst — no construction of the constitution upon tlie powers delegated or reserved 
during the administrations of Washington or the elder Adams, ever brought it 
into doubt ; while the very memorable instance I have already given to your 
Excellency, touching Kentucky's famous memorial in 1795, sotemnly and boldly 
announcing her purpose of seceding from the Union, with the implications aris- 
ing from the silence and acquiescence of Washington and his cabinet, of their 
concession of the right, carries with it overwhelming testimony in its favour. 
And in fer more recent times, (1844-5) such free ai5d bold construction- 
ists of Federal powers, as Mr. John Quincy Adams, and large majorities of the 
two houses of the Massachusetts Legislature, resolved and declared in substance, 
that the annexation of Texas would be such a breach of the constitution, as to 
justify and authorize her secession from the Union, and it was her standing me- 
nace for a twelvemonth, that if Texas came into the Union, that Massachusetts 
would go out of it." 

By the established law of nations, each party to a treaty construes it for itself, 
but it must allow other parties to do the same ; and if the difference between 
their respective constructions is important enough, the parties have the right, / 
either to rescind the lohole treaty, or to enforce the treaty by conquering in war. 
Vattel says : " If one of the allies fails in his engagements, the other may con- 
strain him to fultil them ; this is the right derived from a perfect promise. But, 
if he has no other way but that of arms to constrain an ally to keep his word, it 
it is sometimes more expedient to disengage himself* from his promises and break 
the treaty. He has undoubtedly a right to do this ; having promised only on v' 
condition that his ally should accomplish, on his side, every thing he is obliged to ^ 
perform. The ally, offended or injured in what relates to the treaty, may then 
choose either to oblige the perfidious ally to fulfil his engagements, or declare the 
treaty broken by the violation of it." The sovereign aggrieved " is permitted to 
threaten the other to renounce the entire treaty — a menace that may be lawfully 
put in execution, if it be despised. These principles are general, sound, and not 
to be questioned. They apply in all cases, as well to confederations as to treaties. 
Each party must judge for itself, for the very good reason that no other can pro- 
perly judge for it ; it must judge on its own responsibility, at its own peril. If 
their judgments are contrary, and their opinions obstinately persisted in, then 
" war alone can arbitrate the event, or if a peaceful course be adopted, the whole 
compact is at an end." 

But there is one truth which renders the right of a State to leave the Union 
more unquestionable perhaps than any other; it is to be taken in connection 
with the principles already laid down. It is this. In a question of pioUtical 
power between the Federal Government and a State, as for instance, whether 
the former has a right to abolish the slave trade between the several States, or 
whether Congress has a right to prohibit slavery in the territories, there is no 
power to decide but one or the other of the two parties, there is no common 
umpire, neither the Supreme Court, nor any of the other States have the authority 
to decide. It is then the business of either the Federal Government or of the ^ 
State, to make a decision. If the Federal Government has the right, then it 
has a right to make , any one of the States adhere to anj' Jaw it may think 
proper to make. For if it, in the first place, assumes the power, then the State 
disputes the assumption, of course when the matter is brought back for it to 
decide it will confirm what it has already done. In this way its power would 
be unlimited. This would be consolidation in perfection. If, on the other 



132 THE disuntonist; or, 

hand, the State has the right to decide, no abuse of the right is possible ; foi* 
when it disputes the assumption it only acts for itself, it says, you have as- 
sumed a power which I never have granted, you may exercise that power 
over other States if theij are willing, but as ibr me t/ou shall not. I am a 
SOVEREIGN, I have agreed with other sovereigns that you should conduct cer- 
tain of my affairs in common with theirs ; but in this matter you are underta- 
king to conduct affiprs which I have reserved for my own especial care. There- 
fore, either you must desist from this undertaking, or I must abrogate my con- 
tract with you. You will not doist I Then we are henceforth no longer con- 
nected. I cannot make you desist, but I can return to the state I was in be- 
fore I bargained with ypu. / can secede ! 

Then comes the cry of force, that most ridiculous of all absurdities. Force 
to bind a Union of Republics? Why bayonets might as well be used to quell 
the waters of the sea. A union of States, in these days, is founded in a com- 
mon interest, common sympathy, common destiny, common rights powers and 
privileges; not in force, not in soldiers, not in wars, not in victories! All 
the victories, all the conquests in the world can never make a union such as 
ours formerly was, or purported to be. They may make bloody revolutions, 
confusion, anarchy and despotism, but never a union of Republics. But this 
cry oi force is all jargon. This is not a fighting age. The men of the pres- 
ent time have other matters to attend to. We feel no hesitation in asserting 
that no State or States of this Union, after seceding, will never have a gun 
fired after them to bring them back, unless it be such 2W2)-guns as have grown 
rusty in the Senate, and can only shoot squibs and tirades across the floor. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

" Money and man a mutual falsehood show, 

Men make false money, — money makes men so. ' 

General George Washington, " The illustrious Southerner," in his fare- 
well address, says: "It is of infinite moment that you properly estimate the 
immense value of your national Union to your collective and individual happi- 
ness." Be it remembered, our collective and individual happiness. Let us 
then proceicd to make this important est::nate. What has this Union done for 
the Soutliern States collectively and individual!}' ? And what is the present 
value of this Union to them collectively and individually ? Does the value in- 
crease or depreciate ? 

We are told by foreign observers, parties quite disinterested as to our local 
concerns, and quite able to form correct opinions, precisely what impartial 
history would confirm, viz : that the policy of the United States has been to 
form manufacturing interests of her own, notwithstanding it has been generally 
considered averse to the interests of the Southern States. And although this 
policy has unquestionably advanced the nation far beyond what could have 
been expected ; yet when we come to consider what has been the efft'ct of it 
on the South and JVo-th resppcHvely, we immediately see that though the na- 
tion as a whole, has been benefitted, the South as a part has been compara- 
tively injured. Whilst the na'ion has made the most of its resources, and ad- 
vanced to wealth with the most gigantic strides ; the North has reaped the 
benefit of government, and the South has borne the burden. We are within 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 133 

limits when we say that for every doUar the South has lost by this policy, the 
North has gained ten. The produce of the South has called into existence V 
manufactures at the North. The profits of these manufactures have been ap- 
plied to building up new manufactures, villages and towns at the North. — 
Thereby accumulating capital and population at the JVoiih. Building churches 
making roads, establishing universities and seminaries at the North. Improving 
the market for some things, and creating a demand for other things, enhancing 
the value of property, increasing the general wealth, andjinalli/ concentrating 
irresislibJc polificrt! power, all at the North. 

So valuable has the Union become to the North, with respect to money and 
apart from other advantages, that from being fifty years ago, of no very great 
moment, it is now, on a moderate calculation, estimated that the annual pro- 
Jits of the North derived from its connection with the South, including only 
the items of freight, imports, exchange, manufactures and Northern capital 
employed at the South, is no less than ninety millions of dollars per annum, in 
round numbers. The Federal Government raises upwards of $30,000,000 
per annum by taxing imports. Now without going into the question of the 
right of the government to lev}' these taxes, mei'ely look into the effects of the 
tax. The great effect is to enrich one portion of the country by embarrassing 
another. Take the illustration given by a gentleman in Congress. Suppose 
rail road iron can be manufactured in Enghmd and sent to any part of our 
coast for $40 per ton. For that price, iron cannot be nianufactured in Ameri- 
ca. Those distiicts of countr}', therefore, which contain iron and every fa- 
cility for its manufacture, being undersold by England, petition Congress to 
assist them to cope with England by levying a heavier tax on English iron. 
The tax is laid, say $20 per ton. English iron then which could formerly be 
had at $40, now costs $00. Where do these $20 go? Not to the importer, 
not to the English manufacturer; it goes to the American manufacturer. And 
who pays it? not the Government, but the American consumer. For, Ameri- 
can iron can undersell English iron at $00. Who, then, is benefitted by this 
tax ? The iron monger. And who is made to suffer by it ? All those who 
pay $00 when they formerly paid but $40. As soon as this tax is laid, addi- 
tional capital and labour is employed in the iron business. This is beneficial .^ 
to iron districts, and so far as the entire nation is concerned, it not only is a 
source of revenue, but serves to dcvelope the mineral resources of the country. 
But this revenue and this development is at the expense of nearly two-thirds 
of the country. It may benefit one section, but it injures another. The bur- 
den of the tax is more or less " diffused over the whole country, but the bene- 
fit is limited to the manufacturers, and those persons who reside so near as to 
have thereby a better market ; very little more than one third of the Union 
gets the benefit of the system, in exclusion mainly of the South and West." 
The State of Pennsylvania on the one hand reaps the benefit, but we question 
whether Georgia or Texas experience any material advantage from it. What 
may be said of rail road iron, may also be said of other manufactures which 
flourish under the protection of such a tax. This burden — falling as it does, 
chiefly on the South — has not been very generally complained of, for the fol- 
lowing, among other obvious reasons : In the first place, owing to a rapid in- 
crease in the labouring population, and a consequent proportionate reduction 
in the price of labour, combined with the most astonishing improvements in ma- ^^ 
chinerj' ; the price of American manufactures has steadily declined ever since 
their beginning. This circumstance has acted very powerfully in reconciling 
men to the system, and has, in a great measure, caused them to overlook the 
fart, that " though there is a gradual reduction of prices in the United States, 
yel it is still 7nore striking on the other side of the Atlantic." In the second 



134 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

place, this system has been submitted to by the South, because her good faith 
has been pledged that she would do so, and because she is true to her engage- 
ments. When the Federal Constitution was formed, the South and North 
entered into an agreement, which some call a compromise ; in which the South 
J* agreed that a majority of Congress might impose taxes upon imports, instead 
of three fourths as was proposed. By this agreement, the power to levy the 
tax passed immediately into the hands of the North, for she had a majority in 
Congress. In her turn, the North agreed that three fifths of the slaves should 
be added to the free population in the appoilionment of representatives ; that 
free importation should for a time be permitted ; and that fugitive slaves should 
be delivered up by the non-slaveholdiug States. It can, therefore, be easily 
understood why the South has so patiently borne this burden, more easily, per- 
haps than it can be ascertained why so great a portion of the Northern States 
have broken their faith in regard to the delivery of fugitive slaves. Tliis com- 
promise has been sufficient precedent for many more, less worthy of the name 
and less likely to be observed in good faith by the North. 

But this is not the' only way, nor the least way in which the South has 
become a looser by its connection with the North. It was proposed last win- 
ter — when Congress had first assembled — to disburse for the next fiscal j-ear 
$40,000,000 ; yet not ftre millions were to be expended in all the slaveholding 
States put together. The State of North-Carolina, according to Mr. Cling- 
man, contributes 83,000,000 to the coffers of the General Government, but 
does not receive in return as much as $100,000 ; not one thirtieth of what 
she gives, and very little over three per cent of the capital thus forever taken 
out of her hands to h° given to the North. And what is true of North-Caroli- 
na is true of other Southern States. 

But let us make out the account in due form. 

The direct profits from freight, imports, exchange, 
manufiictures and Northern capital employed at 
the South, amounts, as already seen, to $90,000,000 

In 1848, three fourths of the imports wei'e based 
on the export of Southern produce. The du- 
ties on these imports amounted to 131,757,070 ; 
taking three fourths of this as the duty on im- 
ports based on Southern produce, we have $23,817,801 
Contributed to Government by Southern pro- 
duce. 

From the proceeds of the sales of public lands, 
the money paid into the treasury for the pur- 
chase of lands in slaveholding States, for the 
same year was ...... 900,000 

The amount contributed to the General Govern- 
ment that year was, therefore, - - $24,717,801 

Taking this as an average annual contribution of 
the South, and allowing for the increase of pro- 
duce and trade, and the contributions of Texas, 
which were not considered in the estimate of 
1848 ; we may put down as the contribution of 
the South this year, $25,000,000 

But of all the money disbursed this year, not $5,- 
000,000 v/ill be expended at the South. But 
deduct 5,000,000 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 135 

And we have as the net contribution of the South 
to the Government, and by it to be expended at 
the North, ^20,000,000 

Add to this the profits of travellers fare, schools, 
Colleges, individual purchases, &-c., not compu- 
ted above, and all other incidental profits rising 
out of her union with the South, at least, - - - 5,000,000 



And we leave as the annual income of the North, 
derived from its connection with the South, no 
less than $115,000,000 

At the rate of five per celt per annum, this would be the interest of ii;2,300,- 
000,000. The Union then, so far as profits ia money can be thus imperfectly 
arrived at, is worth just so much to the North ; whereas, it costs just so much to 
the South. Estimating the free population of the North at 12,000,000, and 
that of the South at 0,000,000 ; the Union would have the average value, in 
money, to each individual of the North, of §191.66, and would afford an in- 
come amounting to five per cent of this ; while it would cost each individual 
at the South $383 32, and would deduct from his income an amount equal to 
five per cent of that. So that ior every hundred dollars the Union is worth 
to the North, it costs the South two hundred. 

From 1790 to 1845, the tax on imports paid for goods in exchange for 
Sothern produce amounted to $711,200,000 ; while the tax on imports, paid for 
goods in exchange for Northern produce amounted to $215,850,097. For 
every ten years the tax on each individual, ranged, at the South from $10 to 
35; while at the North it only ranged from $2 to 13. The North has receiv- 
ed over $28,000,000 in pensions, the South but 7,000,000. From the forma- 
tion of the government to the year 1849, the North received for collecting the 
customs $43,000,000, and the South §10,000,000. Yet the North paid but 
$12,000,000, while the South paid 41,000,000 of the amount. From 1833 to 
1837 government expended but 37,000,000 at the South, while at the North 
the expenditure amounted to $65,000,000. gi et, during that period the South 
paid $90,000;000, in duties, and the North but $17,000,000. 

Is there any wonder that the North can afford to pay a million and a quarter 
a year for abolition purposes ? Is there any wonder that the North so loves 
the Union as not only to remain united with the land of slavery, but like a 
loving bear, to hug it so close as to produce suffocation and death ? 

Since the South so loves the Union as to pay this immense tribute to the 
North, for the sweets of it ; is it surprising that the latter assumes the tone of 
authority. With one hundred and fifteen millions of annual tribute pouring into 
her lap, is it surprising she has powt-r and wealth to commam) ; is it surprising 
she does not rule even more strictly than she does, such generous tributaries? 
Ah, the wonder is; the great wonder is, that those whose fathers, seventy 
years ago, gave " millions for ueken(;e, not oxe cext for tribute ;" novf 
give millions for tribute, but will not rise united for defence. 

The amount above stated is not all the Union is worth to the North, neither 
is it half what it costs the South. To estimate every thing, would require more 
space, information and acuteness than we can bring to bear. The following items 
are only a few of those to be considered in the final estimate. 

We must consider the enhanced value of property at the North, and the en- v 
couragement given to industry there, by the public works and improvements car- 
ried on by government with the treasure derived from the South. 



136 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, , 

We must consider the profits derived from foreign trade, driven from Southern 
to Northern ports, by the policy of the Federal Government. 

The treasure annually drained from the South by the faithless course of North- 
ern States in sanctioning and encouraging their citizens, in violation of the Consti- 
tution, to abduct slaves in whom Southern capital is invested. 

The immense territory given by the South to the General Government, out of 
which States have been erected to put down the independence of the South and 
crush her institutions. 

The stability acquired by the North through the Federal Government, from 
the superior counsels of Southern Statesmen over any thing that has ever ema- 
nated from the North. 

We must consider the influence the government has acquired among the na- 
tions of the earth, owing to the domestic productions of the South having become 
necessary for the maintenance of millions of people who would otherwise be in- 
wan t. 

The blood of Southern soldiers that has been shed in defence of Northern soil, 
and in vindication of Northern rights, as the major part of the confederacy, and 
which it now appears is to reap the whole reward. 

The odium which is constantly heaped upon Southern institutions b}^ Northern 
prejudices, and the repeated humiliating concessions the South has made to the 
North under the name of compromise. 

We must remember that what we contend for, is actual, real and visible, that 
it has " a local habitation and a name," that it has life, existence, it has length 
breadth and thickness, it has sense and action, every thing appertaining to sound, 
positive and actual reality, as well in theory as in practice ; whereas, what the 
North contends for is a crazy abstraction, it is neither actual, real, nor visible, it 
has neither habitation nor name, neither life nor existence, neither length, breadth, 
nor thickness, nor sense nor action, nothing appertaining to sound, positive, or 
actual reality, either in theory or practice. 

We must consider whether it is not infinite concession, nay absolute surrender, 
for any thing so real and ric/ht/nl as slavery, to be compromised witli such un- 
real and wrongful fanaticism as abolition or anv of its offspring. Consider, then, 
the exorbitant and ruinous forbe^-ance it has cost the South to submit to the pal- 
pable injury she sustains. Consider these things, oh man of the South, and then 
ask yourself the question, What is the value of our National Union to our 

" COLLECTIVE AND INDIVIDUAL HAPPINESS ?" 

What does the South gain by all these concessions and compromises? Abso- 
lutely nothing. Yes, nothing but abuse, contempt an*! deterioration. We feel 
fully authorized to say that the Union has been supported and relieved from debt, 
and the entire North, enriched, strengthened and defended, by the slaveholding 
States of the South, through the action of the Federal Government. Yet South- 
ern people are denounced for all that is worthless and bad. Because the North 
appears to have advanced more rapidly than the South, it is the common fashion 
""" to suppose the Northern people are superior to the Southern in energy, industry 
and ingenuity. Facts, however, authorize a diflferent conclusion. A few will be 
mentioned. But in calling them to mind, it 'should be remembered, that in every 
branch of industry the Northern people have all along been encouraged by the 
Federal Government, while those of the South had commerce driven from their 
very doors. 

In the first place. Where is that boasted superior energy and perseverance so 
peculiar to the North 'I Is it developed in her rail roads — let us see. The road 
\ from Charleston to Hamburg, in the Slate of South-Carolina, was the second 
road projected in the United States ; and for many' years, was the longest con- 
tinuous line of rail-road, not only in the United States, but in the tvorld / This 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 137 

company introduced the Jirst locomotive of English construction in America, and 
"was the Jirst to undertake the construction of locomotives in the United States. 
In 1848 — the white popuhition of the free States being more than twice that of 
the shive States — the United States mail was transported, bi/ steam pow^r^ over 
4,224,410 miles in the free States, while in the slave States it was transported, 
also by steam, over 4,488,792.* At the present time, there are 4,307 1-2 miles 
of rail-road completed at the North, at a cost of $135,000,000 ; and at the South, 
with less than half the population, there are 2,147 miles of road complete, at a 
cost of $44,000,000. Now, so far as rail-roads are concerned, is there any want 
of energy exhibited on the par. of the South ? Are we behind the North in this 
department, when we have the same proportionate extent of road, at a less cost; 
notwithstanding we have fewer uses for such roads ? It must be remarked that 
the North — especially that portion of it where rail-roads most abound — is essen- 
tially a commercial and manufacturing country. The people there are called upon 
to travel from one town to another on business, and raw material must be sent to 
the factories, and fabrics must be sent back ; imports must be sent one way, ex- 
ports another ; consequently greater facilities for transportation and travelling 
should be expected there than at the South, where the population is stationary; 
because it is agricultural, our ])eople are not called upon to travel from town to 
town on business, we have no factories (or so few as may be omitted) to supply and 
receive from, and consequently no pressing necessity for a greater number of 
roads than we have. If a country has as many improvements of a given de- 
scription, as for instance roads, as the community can use, what more is wanted. 
In commei'ce, the bona, fide exchange of domestic for foreign 'produce, we are 
NOT BEHIND THE NoRTH. It is vcry truc, our commerce is different from that of 
the Noi'th ; ours is not so prof table, but it is equally energetic. If our people do 
not pocket so much money as those of the North, it is certain they go through as 
much luork. It is the modus operandi of the business, and not the energy of 
the people that makes the difference in the profits. Without going into the de- 
tails of freight, brokerage, factorage, or any distinct head undor this branch of 
industry, we wish to show that though the North realizes more by her commerce, 
yet she is not possessed of more energy and industry than the South ; and all the (<" 
superiority she has acquired, in this department, comes from external causes and 
not from any superior quality of her people. During the year ending June 30th, 
1848, the North exported domestic produce to the amount of $50,862,590; 
while the South exported $76,041,531. Considering the diflerence of free popu- 
lation, it a])pears that the South exports about three times as much domestic jiro- 
duce as the North. When the exports of foreign produce is added, the total 
exports of the North is 76,119,362, while that of the South is $77,917,074. The 
South still exporting twice as much as the North. Now, though we have no in- 
formation as to how much is annually imported f'om the North by the South, 
yet we do know that the exi)orts and imports of the whole of the States, during 
that year, were almost exactly to the same amount ; and we also know that the 
excess of imports over exports- at the North, was about the same as the excess of 
exports over imports at the South. The South sent to foreign mai-kets as much 
more than it received direct from them, as the North received direct from foreign 
markets over and above what it sent. Where this surplus of Northern imports 
went, must evidently have been where the means of acquiring it emanated, and 
that was at the South. The ship which sails from the Southern port laden with 
cotton, does not return from Europe with goods for the Southern port from which 
it sailed; it returns to its Northern owner, freighted with European goods at a 
great profit. From the Northern port it sails to the South, either with ballast or 

* American Almanac. 



v^ 



138 THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

an assorted cargo of European goods and Yankee notions, to be sold at an en- 
hanced price to the cotton grower. The commerce thus carried on is not con- 
fined to two chief parties. There are three. It is a triangular system of opera- 
tions. And just so surely as it is true, that a straight line is the shortest distance 
between two of these parties, it is true that the third party lives on the profits 
■which legitimately belong to the other two. Europe and the South are the 
two parties in the traffic to whom the whole conduct of the business belongs; 
the North is a foreign party in the exchange; she has been dropped in be- 
tween the others by causes at war with the interests of those others, and lives, 
to grow rich and impudent, upon the profits she can wrench away from them. 
In this state of things, the rchole loss is suffered by the South — and why ? Purely 
because the South has placed herself in the commercial power of the North, 
to such an extent that she can never throw off that power without throwing off 
the POLITICAL POWER involved in it, and that she has never heretofore exhibited 
the least desire to do. In order to keep up this triangular system of commerce, 
it is evident each party must receive from one of the other two a return for what 
it sends away, and that return must be an equivalent, or the party would sink 
under its losses and the commerce be ended. The South, then, evidently must 
import from Europe and the North, taken together, as much, if she does not 
more, as the exports to them; but with this disadvantage. In this three handed 
game, the South, in the first place, has to set the ball in motion ; to do this 
it has to create the ball and then apply the force to set it rolling along the 
first line, which is the chief line, to the point in Europe. When it arrives at this 
point, it has the cost of freights, etc., added to its value. It is there metamor- 
phosed and thoroughly prepared for another roll, with increased value to the ex- 
tent of the cost of metamorphosing. It is then put on the second line and rolled 
along to the point at the North. By the time it reaches this point it has ac- 
quired another addition to its value, on account of freights, commissions, etc. 
Here it is cut open, unravelled, turned up, turned down, tasted, smelt, handled, 
and then boxed up again if all is right. Government gouges a large slice out 
of one side, and to make it even, the agents take a slice from the other. Then 
comes the remnant on its third voyage, homeward bound, with the accumulated 
charges for vuRKTi voyages, three sets of commissions, one metamorphose, two 
gouges, and a sample, all for the un weary producer to pay for. Now when it 
gets home, all the machinery is overhawled, screws tightened, wheels greezed, and 
every i\\\y\g fixed for another three handed reel round the world ; and just as it is 
time to start again, a small item comes up for wear and tear, if you jilease, sir? 

With these fivcts known to every body, it cannot be denied that though the 
South does not realize all the profits she should, yet she contributes the funda- 
mental essence of the system ; and as she is so essen'ially important, how can she 
be less energetic and industrious than the other actors in the scene. We have 
seen that the South exports more than the North ; we have shown that she must 
import from all quarters, though it comes chiefly from the North, as much as she 
exports. It follows, therefore, that she really im])orts more than the North. But 
as she does this with a less population and a less capital, how is it that she has 
less energy, enterprise and industry ? 

Let us'compare individual States. New York is the great exporter and im- 
porter of the North. Louisiana has that relation to the South. New York has 
a population at least 7iine times as large as that of Louisiana — all the slaves in- 
cluded. During the year ending with June, 1848, New York exported $38,771,- 
209 worth of domestic produce, and Louisiana exported 839,350,148 worth. 
This makes Louisiana, comparatively, more than nine times as large an exporter 
as New York, and nearly three per cent, larger absolutely. New York imported 
that year $94,525,141, and Louisiana $9,3813,439. This, in proportion to popu- 



SECESSION', THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 1 

lation, makes New York about ten per cent, the largest importer. But taking 
the exports and im]3orts together, can it be said that the commercial community 
of Louisiana is less energetic and industrious than that of New York. 

Pennsylvania, with a population at least three times as great as that of Mary- 
land, including slaves, exported $5,428,309 worth of domestic produce, while 
Maryland exported $7,016,0o4 worth. This makes Maryland nearly seven times 
the largest exporter. Pennsylvania imported $12,147,584, Maryland imported 
$5,343,643. This makes Maryland far more than twice as large an importer as 
Pennsylvania, in proportion to population. 

The North is a great superior to us in manufactures, but all of her superiority 
to us in this respect, is fully counterbalanced by our superior agricultural re- 
sources. Moreover, her manufacturing interest, in many quarters, is near its cul- 
minating point, whilst ours yet glimmers in the twilight of dawn ; and as ours 
rises to tiie meridian of success, hers must wane and gradually repose in the hori- 
son of decay. Her possession of factories is no evidence of superiority in her ^ 
people, but rather conclusive proof of the prospering condition of agriculture at 
the South. 

Education is a peculiar boast of Northern braggadocios. Let us see the foun- 
dation of this proud exultation. At the North, there are 61 Colleges, annually 
educating 6,057 students. At the South, there are 60 Colleges, annually 
educating 4,773 students. As far as mere numbers go, the advantage is on the '^ 
side of the South. But on considering the endowments and general qualities of 
the Colleges, we are willing to admit that there are some at the North which are 
superior to any at the South. It is, however, one thing to have Colleges and 
another to liave stirlents — one thing to have a library and another to read it — 
and yet another to learn. It is completely out of our power to say how many of 
the students in these Northern colleges are sent there from the South. But from 
what we do know, we believe we are within limits when we say, that out of the 
six thousand students sent to them, at least one thousand are from the South, and 
return to the South when their term has expired. If, then, there is any superi- 
ority in education at the North, the South ])artici])ates in it to quite a sufficient 
extent, and pays liandsomvly for it in more than money. The education of South- 
ern youth at the North is matter of dubious policy^ The benefit which may be 
derived from the larger hbraries, aparatuses, museums, etc., etc., of the North, is 
apt to be counteracted by the pernicious effects of other causes. We believe that ^ 
out of the 10,830 students in all the States, fully half the number come from 
the SOTth ; and as far as college education is any advantage, the South enjoys it 
in a superlative degree. It is, however, much to be regretted that the South has 
so completely adopted the eri'oueous and even injurious custom of sending her 
youth to be educated at the North ' We have never been more forcibly struck 
with the error of this custom, than we were a few years ago during a protracted 
stay at the North, when we saw the sons of wealthy and influential slaveholders, 
planters, educated at the jirivate school and living under the roof of an abolition- 
ist, who openly, and on all occasions, pronounced through the ballot box his un- 
compromising hostility to the institutions of the South. Here was one of those 
occasions where the South lends its purse to support its worst and vilest enemies. 
It is a VITAL EVIL. Its continuance is suicidal. And what can be expected to 
flow from this state of things ? If the private schools of the North, not to men- 
tion colleges, are so superior to those of the South, as to render the employment 
of active abolitionists a consideration of no importance, is it not high time the 
schools at the South were raised to a higher standard ? But this is not the case. 
Southern schools are fully as competent as Northern schools ; and no better proof 
can be desired than the fact that some of the brightest of the Literati of America 
have nev(>r entered a Northern seminary. Unfortunately, the truth is a reproach 
on the South. Nothing but fashion and caprice is the causg of the evil.; 



140 THE disuniontst; or, 

lu theological schools, the North outstrips the South, the former having 32 
schools with 1,072 students, the latter 10 schools and 245 students. Judging, 
however, from the morals of the people, the catalogue of crimes, and other evi- 
dences of the kind, the majority of these students must also be from the South, 
or being from the North, the fruits of their studies are destined to be severely 
taxed. 

There are six Law Schools at the North and 200 students ; six at the South with 
215 students, not including those at the Alabama University, the number of 
which we have not been able to ascertain correctly. In view of this disparity, it is 
not wonderful that the Northern people are so piofound in their construction of 
the Constitution, and so free from mobs, disorders and riots. 

There are 19 Medical ^'olleges and 3,125 students at the North, and 16 Col- 
leges and 1,439 students at the South. The great number of hospitals which 
are necessary at the North, on account of the misery, pauperism and dissipation 
of the li'orMng pfople, attract a great many students from the South, where, for- 
tunately, there are not many hospitals and they but small. If the number of 
such students could be ascertained, it would surely be found that there are, in 
proportion to population, many more annually educated for the medical profession, 
who are destined to reside, at the North., than the South. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

" Now's the day, and now's the hour, x 

See the front o' battle lour ; 
See approach proud Edward's power — 
Chains and shiverie ! 

We have transcended the limits we had imposed upon ourselves, yet we 
have not gone over half the ground we intended. Our notes concerning the abo- 
lition agitation in this country and its connection with the English abolition par- 
ty, which we had intended to discuss in a few additional chapters, we are obliged 
to omit on this occasion. Our story is but half told. Still we must leave off, 
not however before we briefly discuss one more point. What are we to expect 
for the future in this Union, and what may we expect out of the Union 'i§ 

We will not stop to count \\])all the injuries we hav£ sustained in tlie past, 
nor all we should expect in the future. We simply invite your attention, oh 
most patient reader ! to the way our government works, the legislative depart- 
ment of our overgrown government. See how it serves the North and how it 
serves the South. Do not start when you hear this tvarning voice. It is all 
truth. The political independence of the South, in this Union, is dead. 
Did you hear those hundred guns yesterday, the last still louder than the rest ? 
They were interring it then. Did you hear those loud huzzas ? They came from 
the vultures that were hovering over the corpse when the grave diggers began to 
throw the sods upon the hollow sounding coffin. Did you notice that death-like 
silence which followed the hearse back to its place ? The vultures were asleep. 
Those you saw were the sly Reynards and Grimalkins that had snuffed the odour 
of the carcass from the distance, they looked sour and gruff, for they had come 
too late to see the body, they only lapped up a few drops of blood that oozed 
out on the way. But hist! Did you hear that sob, that female sob, jusi as the 
preacher said " dust to dust ?" Ah, that teas a sob indeed. Poor woman, she 
was on the linnks of that very river in her jounger days, she stood smiling by the 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 141 

side of a cradle — there was an infant in it — she smiled and passed on. An age 
rolled on — but when she heard those guns, she knew the omen, she hurried to 
the spot ; the cradle was old, empty and decayed, the infant had grown old, grey 
and bent with care, it wept bitterly, its name was Justice. The woman sobbed 
aloud, her name was Liberty. Did you see those few old men who kept them- 
selves aloof, and seemed so sad and weary .^ They were the mourners — they 
were the only friends the poor deceased victim had to care for it in its dying 
agonies. They did " the best their circumstance atlbrds," and " angels could no 
more." And. did you see those ugly monsters with their snaky tongues, as they 
wound their way among the mazy crowd ? They were the poisoners, their fangs 
struck the blow, they are the Southern traitors ! But that one you saw far away, 
coiled up and asleep in the woods, he is the old king snake of all the vipers,' age 
makes him drowsy. Do you hear that tingling noise as it swells up with the 
north winds and falls upon our ears with such sweet melody ? It is the voice of 
revelry, the lucky heirs of the deceased are feasting themselves upon the spoils of 
their plunder. They are happy noio ; but bend your ear, listen well, do you 
HEAR IT? Hear that! Hear the muttering! Hear the voices! Hear the 
clashing! Hear the tumult! Hark, hear that long wild blast! ! 'Tis the trump 
of vengeance ! Jl is the South ! ! Leap up and whoop an answer. Thai aw- 
ful shriek which seems to rend the heavens like the stunning thunders of an angry 
God, is the cry for help your couulry's help ! 

" Rise fathers ! Rise ! 'Tis Jioiiie demands your help !" Shake your grey 
locks in anger, that your sons may catch the spirit of your youth, and your 
daughters not blusli to call them men. Speak out ye mothers, matrons of another 
age, tell out the virtues of your ancient defenders, stir up the ambition of your 
sons, lest they kiss the rod that smites them. Spring up, oh long deluded South ! 
Cast off the fetters that are wound around you ! Burst otF the manacles that 
enchain your sovereignty. Throw otf the yoke that galls your independence. 
Onward ! 

" Forward ! let us do, or die !" 

California is now a State — a free State. Her two senators and two represen- 
tatives are now voting in Congress — voting with the North. We do not say one 
word as to the propriety of her admission. She is admitted, that's all we will 
here speak of. There has all along been a steady decline of political power at 
the South, and this decline has lately received an impetus which hastens it to 
ruin henci'forth and forever. The causes of this decline are manifold ; but the 
great leading cause is the nature of our pursuits. We here, of course, leave out 
of consideration the action of the Federal Government. The tendency of our 
pursuits is to spread a small population over a large extent of territory ; the ten- 
dency of northern pursuits is to concentrate a large population in a small space. 
With the South, territory must increase with population, Avith the North it is not 
essential. The consequence is, that the population of Southern States has all 
along, after reaching a certain point, remained comparatively stationary, while 
that of the Northern States has increased rapidly. The effect of this is to give a 
greater increase to the representation in Congress of the North than that of the 
South. 

According to the apportionment of 1790, Congress was composed as follows: 
From the North, 14 Senators, 36 Re])resentatives. 
From the South, 12 Senators, 30 Representatives. 

Since that time, 18 new States have been added to the Union ; 9 free States 
and 9 slave States. One of the then slave States has now become to all intents 
and purposes a free state, viz: Delaware. So that out of the 31 States, there 



J42 THE disunionist; or, 

are 17 free States and 14 slave States. The population of the two periods, com- 
poses as follows : 

In 1790. In 1850. 

The North, 1,930,808, about 12,000,000 

The South, . . - - 1,875,799, " 8,000,000 

The Congress now in session, including the California members, and classing 
Delaware as she alwaj's votes, with the North, is composed as follows : 
From the North, Senators 34; Representatives 143. 
From the South, Senators 28 ; Representatives 90. 

The North, therefore, has four times as many representatives as at first, while 
the South bus, but three times as many. 

In 1790, New-York had 6 representatives and Georgia 3 ; New- York now has 
34 and Georgia 8. Pennsylvania then had 8 and Virginia 10; Pennsylvania 
now has 24 and Virginia 15. 

In 1802, Kentucky had 6 and Ohio 1 ; Kentucky now has 10 and r)hio 21. 
Michigan and Arkansas were both admitted in 1836. The former has three re- 
presentatives, the latter one. 

New-York and Pennsylvania together, had in 1790 but 14 representatives, 

j they now have 58. Virginia and North-Carolina then had 15, whereas the nine 

States of Virginia, North-Carolina, South-Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, 

Louisiana, Arkansas and Florida, now have among them but 56 representatives. 

These are isolated facts ; now for their concomitants. Out of our 90 repre- 
sentatives, thirteen are from territory acquired since 1790, and out of our 28 
senators, ten are from such territory ; while out of the 143 northern representa- 
^ tives, only /our are from new territory, and out of their 34 senators, but four. 
The South then tvouJd not have the little poicer she now has. had it not been for 
the acquisition of these new territories. The policy of the >-i<nt]i has hereto- 
fore been to keep up her balance of power by acquiring new teriitory, out of 
which to form new States. She has, heretofore been aided by the North in car- 
rying out this policy, because it was also essential to the prosperity of the North. 
That aid is now forever withdrawn, because new teriitory is no longer essential 
to the North. The policy which the South has heretofore pursued, is therefore 
forever, eternally and unalterably stopped — at least, as long as she is in this 
Union. What would have become of us long ago, had we not acquired this ' 
new territory ? Look, and see. Suppose that Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mis- 
souri, Iowa, Texas and California, had never been purchased or annexed. By 
deductino- their respective delegates from the congressional list, the South would 
have but 20 senators and 77 representatives, while the North v^ould have 30 sen- 
ators and 139 representatives. The policy we have heretofore pursued has then 
N^ clearly been the means of preserving us from this dangerous minority. But this 
policy is now forever cut off. For it is a moral and a physical fact, an abso- 
lute truth, elaborately demonstrated in a debate of nine months, on the foors of 
Congress, that there will never be another inch of territory added to the present 
limits of the South, so long as it remains in this Union. Wo, not ever. 

Here then is 07ie thing to be expected for the future, in this Union. We are 
to have no more territory under any circumstances. 

The slave trade is abolished in the District of Columbia. This is the greatest 
^ triumph, the " rabid fanatics" have ever achieved. It is the great entering wedge 
for whatever else they may desire in all time to come, m the Union. Depend 
upon it reader, whoever you may be, if you survive a few years, perhaps one 
year, and this Union holds together so long, you will live to see the bill abolish- 
ing slavery in the District. The right to abolish the trade and the right to abo- 
hsh the institution are inseparable, and the exercise of the one is just as sure to 
be followed by the exercise of the other, as night is to be succeeded by day. The 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 143 

early abolition of slavery in tbe District may then be regarded as a fixed fact. 
Now what will be the result of this measure ? Who will undertake to say ? 
Who that looks back upon the last thirty years, is prophet enou2:h to tell us what 
we must expect during the next ten, or the next five, in this Union. 

Wfc have already expressed our belief in the doctrine, that however proper it 
may be in forming a government for parties having conflicting interests and opin- 
ions to compromise with each other, to the end that a clear and abidino- compact 
may be formed ; it is inexpedient and dangerous for such parties to depart from 
the course and spirit of that compact, to enter into new comprises after the go- 
vernment has been agreed upon. The violation of this doctrine was the first fatal 
error of the South. It was committed thirty years ago. The Missouri compro- 
mise, equitable though it may have been as a part of the constitution, as a part 
of the COMPACT. It was dangerous as a legislative measure. Right thouo-h it 
may have been as an original agreement, it was wrong as an impHed leo-islative 
prerogative. Expedient though it may have seemed to avert an impendino- dan- 
ger, it was a precedent which has been suicidal in its eftbrts. It was a sad error 
for it was not strictly, it was not at all a constitutional measure. It was not con- 
stitutional, because it imposed a law which rendered nugatory a prominent 
clause in the Constitution. That clause of the constitution which provides for the 
admission of new States, imposes but one condition as to the nature of the laws 
and regulations of the new State, and that is, that they shall be republican. It 
has ever been admitted by the government that slavery is a republican institution 
else riine new slave States never could have been admitted, nor five old ones ex- 
isted under the compact. The Constitution then unquestionably provides that a 
slaveholding State may be admitted into the Union, under any circumstances 
which would secure the admission of any other State. But the Missouri com- 
promise — as we will proceed to show — provides that, north of a certain line, a 
slaveholding State may not be admitted into the Union under any circumstances 
which would secure the admission of any other State. 

In erecting a new State, there must be at least a given population, and by 
jDopulation is meant residents. These residents must have emigrated from some 
of the old States or elsewhere. Now if these emigrants, when about to leave their 
old homes, are going to a land over which there is no law, they carry with them 
what they please, and after settling there, they proceed from time to time, to 
adopt such measures, and agree upon such regulations among themselves as the 
nature of their circumstances require. But if they are going to a land v/here 
there is a law, and that law prohibits the introduction of certain property and 
certain customs, these emigrants dispose of such ])roperty, and leave sucli cus- 
toms at home. In the course of time these people increase in number to such an 
extent, that their primitive government fails in answering the demands of society. 
A new government must therefore be formed, a State must be erected. A Con- 
vention is held and a Constitution agreed upon. Now in the formation of this 
Constitution, the people have a right to make whatever laws, and regulate what- 
ever customs they please, provided only they be republican. So says the Fede- 
ral Constitution. In the case first mentioned, where the people carried whatever 
property they pleased, this constitutional right is freely enjoyed, and if in form- 
ing their State Constitution they prohibit any species of property or customs, it 
is their voluntary act, at least in point of constitution and law. But, in the se- 
cond case, where people cannot carry certain property with them, they do not 
freely enjoy the right granted by the Federal Constitution, to make whatever 
laws, and regulate whatever customs they please, for the same law which pre- 
vented their carrying that property with them when they first rinigrated, has 
ever since prevented such property from going there, and henceforth and. for- 
ever will. Here then the provision made by the Constitution is absolutely and 



144 . THE DISUNIONIST ; OR, 

forever rendered null by. this law. Such was the Missouri compromise, as it 
effects the territory norlh of the latitude of 36o 30'. Is it constitutional? If 
slavery is prohibited in a territory, how is it to be expected that slavery will be 
admitted in the State formed out of that territory, and whose inhabitants are the 
non-slaveholding inhabitants of that territory. 

This com[)\'omise was indeed hard to resist. The Government was then but 

4 thirty years of age ; no sectional animosity had previously existed. It was be- 
lieved by honest men, that the risk of ovei-stepping the limits of the Constitution 
in this one particnlar, would be more than compensated for, by the final adjust- 
ment of this sectional jealousy, which it was supposed the conn:yomise would 
effect. But short sighted man ! The very measures which were expected to 
■ end, served but to commence the warfare of sections. It was not adopted until 
"almost every possible mode of reconciling the bitter animosities, sectional in- 
terests and prejudices, had been attempted in vain. John Randolph, of Roan- 
oke, had even proposed that the Southern members retire home in a body, as 
having no longer any interest in an assembly which did not recognize their rights 
and privileges. The sentiment began generally to prevail. In this dark hour 
for the Union, there was, perhaps, no other hope than in the measure which was 
adopted. Whether it has been well for the South, however, or whether she did 
not, in yielding to the exigencies of the times, yield up a most im])ortant and sa- 

4 cred principle, which has been the occasion of all the subsequent injuries and 
aggressions that have been heaped upon her in the halls of Congress, might be 
worthy of consideration." The Constitution thus infringed, a strict obedience to 
it can not be expecte«i for the future, in this Union. The rights and privileges 
of the South thus yielded, with the purest intentions though they may have 
been, can no longer be preserved unimpaired, in this Union. 

It is but too true that " men commence with the control of things — they put 
events in motion, but after a very httle while events hurry them away, and they 

-\ are borne along with a swift fatality that no human sagacity or power can foresee 
or control." From the time of that ^?-.s-? ffreat en-or, the ascendancy of the North 
was secure. The South confided, but alack ! the temptation was too strong, the 
North could not withstand it. Abolition petitions increased and multiplied in 
Congress. Those insinuating petitions upon which" English abolitionists built 
their greatest hopes of success; those petitions which are like small drops of wa- 
ter upon the hardest marble, sure to conquei all resistance, were i-eceived and ac- 
ted upon in the presence of the entire Southern Delegation, and even accepted for 
consideration by the votes of some. It is true, these little drops were for a time 
kept back, but only to burst forth anew with the pent up fury of a torrent. The 
House of Representatives repealed the rule prohibiting the introduction of these 
petitions, and the result has been an exterminating war against the political equa- 
lit3' of the South ; an ever-growing invasion of our sacred rights. We have then 
an exterminating war upon our equahty to expect, for the future, in this Union. 
An ever-growing invasion of our sacred rights to expect, for the future, in this 
Union. 

Although there has ever been a disposition on the part of individuals to attack 
our institutions, as the early formation of abolition associations testify, it was not 
until the " Emancipation Act" of the British Parliament had become the law of 
England, that any States, in their sovereign capacities, became avowed enemies in 
this exterminating war. Massachusetts lead the van. She suddenly remembered 
" tliat South-Carolina had among her laws one which invaded '' the hypothetical 
riifhts of her coloured citizens," although it had been in existence, and slie had 
overlooked it fourteen years before. Her commissioned agruts were sent abroad 
to vindicate those rights, but vindication was inadmissible. This was the signal 
for a general outbreak of State diplomacy of the most amicable and conciliating 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 145 

nature. And now, " the records of Congress teem with documents emanating 
not from fanatical individuals alone, but from Sovereign States, irritating to 
our feehngs, unfriendly in their bearing, embittering rank wrong b}' biting insults, 
and disturbing our tranquillity by agitations dangerous to our peace and safety." 
We have then these Slate agitations also to expect, for the future, in this Union. 

These are but a few of the obvious hopes and expectations we are to entertain 
in the Union. What are we to expect out of it? It is certain we are to expect 
none of these things. 

"The first resistance to aggression is always the cheapest and most successful.. 
Every delay has to meet an accumulation of power and precedent, and gives a 
fresh argument for a renewal of wrongs, until the period is reached when there 
is no adequate remedy, except in a thorough re-organization." The first resist- 
ance to Northern aggression, as we have seen, was changed to compromise. This 
compromise caused delay — this delay occasioned an accumulation of power at 
the North, and a series of precedents on the part of the Federal Government, 
which have hastened us to the period, the present juncture, when there is no ade- 
quate remedy, except in a thorough re-organization. The crisis has now come. 
The question is re-organization, or submission to further aggression. If submis- 
sion is preferred, then nothing is to be done. " Lay on McDuff," with all your 
heart. The South likes it, it cant have too much oppression, lay on more, tram- 
ple it, crush it, it likes it, for it takes it very kindly, it submits very quietly. But 
if re-organization is preferred, then the sooner we set about it the better. Now 
what sort of re-organization is wanted; why such as will secure us our rights, 
equality and independence, to be sure. Where do you expect to effect this re- 
organization. In Congress — what ! In Congress ! ! Yes, we must effect it in 
Congress, by amending the Constitution, compromising our difi:erences, or some 
such " equitable adjustment." What folly ! Oo to Congress to adjust atTairs ? 
Why that would be nothing more than going to Congress to undo what it has 
been nine months struggling to achieve. Go to the spider to unravel his web — 
go to the bee to decompose its honey — call on the clouds to take back their rain — 
demand of the sun to withhold its light — call upon nature to remand her laws — 
summon the ancient sepulchres to yield up their dead — but never, oh most in- 
jured South, never go to the tyrants that oppress you — the brigands that rob you — 
the cheats that swindle you — the foes that master you; never, no, never, go to 
Congress more, for aught but base submissioii. Go bend your knee, go lick the 
dust and bow down before the aivful majesty of Congress ; but never go there 
to be an equal. Know you not, that there you are degraded of your rank ? 
Know you not your escutcheon has been defaced, your diadem cast away, your 
effects confiscated, your name disgraced, your pride humbled, your power sub- 
dued, your knighthood lost, your banner riven, your lance shivered, and that you 
are " hors du combat P' 

Congress is surely not the place to effect this re-organization. For how can it 
be supposed that the very power which one day disorganizes for an avowed pur- 
pose, will the next day reorganize in direct opposition to that very purpose ? And 
if Congress will not redress our wrongs, think you the respective States, whose 
Senators and Representatives have thus wronged us, think you that they will give 
us justice ? No, not they. Well, if they will not it is certain no other power in 
this Union can. If then a re-organization of our political and State rights is to 
be effected, we must expect it, for the future, (Aid of this Union. 

If we would regain the political independence our fathers asserted on the 
4th of July, 1776, we must expect it, for the future, out of this Union, 

If we would regain the sovereignty we had when our fathers contracted for 
the faithful performance of the mandates of the Constitution, we must expect it, 
for the future, out of this Union. 
10 



146 THE disunionist; or, 

If we would secure the property our fethers toiled to accumulate, that they 
might leave an heritance for us in our day and generation, we must expect it, for 
the future, out of this Union. 

If we would transmit to our children the " Life, Liberty and pursuit of 
HAPPINESS," which they have a just right to claim untarnished from our hands, 
we must expect it, for the future, out of this Union. 

If we would preserve a respectable position among the nations of the 
EARTH, we must expect it, for the future, out of this Union. 

If we would provide for our common defence and our general welfare, we . 
must expect it, for the future, out of this Union. 

If we would ensure domestic tranquility, honest industry, and all other 
comforts of society, we must expect it, for the future, out of this Union. 

If we would retain for ourselves all that is desirable in this life, the approba- 
tion of posterity, and the smiles of him who made us what we are, and gave us 
what we have, we must expect them, for the future, out of this Union. 

If you would, oh land of our birth ! preserve your streets from desertion, 
your homes from pillage, your hearths from strife, your sons from infamy, your 
daughters from defilement, your people from pestilence and famine, your fields 
from desolation and decay, your cities from tumult, conflagration and massacre, 
your soil from anai'chy, carnage and blood — if you would preserve your very self 
from the ignoble charge of poltron perfidy! Look — look with the fixed eye of 
power and resolution, immaculate, beyond the crumbling ruins of a dismembered 
Union, which now comes crashing down upon your devoted head. 

We must not be amazed. We must not be alarmed at the great work that is 
before us. Our immortal fathers were but a handful, yet they could throw off the 
yoke of mighty England. We are millions, and can we not at least, secure, pro- 
tect, defend the legacy they left? Are we so wedded to one sweet-sounding 
word, that we are no longer men, but servile sycophants ? Surely not. Life is 
not yet so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and 
slavery. 

We cannot be astonished at our case. The evil has grown with us, and with 
us it has become but too familiar. It is scarcely seventy-five years since our tena- 
cious fathers lifted up their heads at the mere semblance of danger, and "augured 
misgoverment at a distance, and snuffed. tyranny in every tainted gale." But 
now, it requires no gale to waft tyranny to us, it requires no snuffing to catch the 
tainted breeze ; no distance is between tyranny and us ; it is upon us, it is around 
us, aye the tainted odour tingles in our very nostrils. The patriots of that day 
were delihrrate, firm, united and candid. Even so must we be, oh people of the 
South ! We must at this time, above all other times, be men who 

" know our rights, and knowing, dare maintain them." 

In our primitive assemblies, our town meetings and our county meetings, we 
must first understand distinctly, and be of one opinion as to what are our rights. 
We must then understand, and be of one opinion as to what are our wrongs ; on 
these two hang all the difficulties of the cure. If we are of one opinion on 
these two, it is certain we will be of one opinion as to the remedy. But in 
weighing the merits of our remedy, we must be careful to remember the action 
that must follow and the end. that we aim at. Let every man have deeply im- 
pressed upon his mind, what the po})ular Mr. Quincy remarked, in Boston, atone 
of the primitive meetings of the peo)ile, before a blow was struck in that great re- 
volution of 1776 — " It is not the spirit that vapors within these walls that must 
stand us in stead. The exertions of this clay will call forth events, which will 
make a very different spirit necessary for our salvation. Look to the end. Who- 
ever supposes that shouts and hosannahs will terminate the trials of this day, 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 14V 

entertains a childish fancy. We must be grossly ignorant of the importance and 
value of the prize we are contending for — we must be equally ignorant of the 
power of those who are contending against us — we must be blind to that malice, 
inveteracy^ and insatiable revenge which actuate our enemies, to hope we shall 
end this controversy, without the sharpest conflicts — to flatter ourselves that 
popular resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations, and popular vapour, 
will vanish our foes. Let us consider the issue. Let us weigh and consider, be- 
fore we advance to those measures which must bring on the most trying and 
terrible struggle this country ever saw." Oh Friends, Countrymen, Southrons! 
By the shade of Washincjton, Jackson, your defenders in war ; by the shade 
of Jefferson, Madison, Calhoun, your counsellors in peace ; in the name of 
Liberty, Truth, Justice, yoi^r birthright; in the narne of GOD, your master ; 
let us invoke deliberation, firmness, courage, justness, candor, love and harmony 
among you, in devising the remedy. 

" Finn, united, let us be, 
Rallying round our liberty." 

" Great nations cannot be held together under a united government by any- 
thing short of despotic power, if any one part of a country is to be arrayed 
against another in a perpetual scramble for privilege and protection, under any 
system of protection. They must fall to j^ieces; and if the same Wind selfish- 
ness and rapacity animate the fragments which had occasioned the disunion of the 
whole, there will be no end to the strife of conflicting interests." It is this truth 
which, being put into practice, has dismembered this Union ; and it is this truth 
which demands of the whole South Unity. Unity for the sake of defence. 
Unity in devising the remedy. 

As to what the remedy should be, we cannot undertake to say /or others. But 
for us, we proclaim Secession, the rightful remedy. We have seen what our 
institutions are. We know how old our customs are, how well approved they 
were in the olden time by holy men — by Deity; We have seen how they be- 
came intailed upon us ; how proper, equitable, economical and politic they are ; 
how indispensable they are. We have seen what principles have been enlisted 
to abolish them in a foreign country. We know what power "there is arrayed 
against us on their account. We understand that it is to deprive us of them, that 
we, as a political community, are degraded, wronged, insulted and pilfered. We 
know their value, and we know the value of those who would despoil us of them. 
We know the value of slavery, and we know the value of the Union. We have 
the bane and the antidote. There is Union and Abolition on one hand, and 
Disunion and Slavery on the other. Which of the two shall we choose ? Reader ! 
we can not tell what you and other men may think, but as for us, give us slavery 
or give us death/ We can not tell what you may think as to the remedy, but 
as to us, we look upon secession, the prompt, positive and unqualified secession of 
each State, independent of the others, in its capacity as sovereign, supreme sover- 
eign, supreme arbiter of its rights and powers, to be the only step which can lift 
us out of the mire tve are in. It is the sole, the rightful remedy. The Declara- 
tion of Lidependence was issued by the Rejn-esentatives of the United States in 
Congress assembled. The credentials of the members of the Convention of 1787, 
which formed the Union, declare them to be delegates from the respective States. 
This Convention was, therefore, an assemblage of the indejocndent sovereign 
States, in their independent sovereign capacity. "The union or confederation 
which then took place, was a u)iion, not of the whole people, but of the separate 
States, and accordingly the name adopted was The United STATES." In all 
the business of this Convention, the votes were taken by States ; but a majority 
of States was not alwas a majority oi people, or of representatives. This Federal 



148 THE DISUNIONIST ; OK, 

Union and the Constitution which formed and binds it, are each and both of 
them, the creatures of the several independent STATES whose representatives 
were there assembled. 

The Federal Government, consisting of three co-ordinate branches, is the 
AGENT of the confederated States, created, by them, for certain purposes and no 
others, with certain powers and no others ; therefore, all purposes and powers 
not deleo-ated to this agent, are reserved and belong to the several independent 
States, and them only. Moreover, this Government is not based on a com- 
pact io u'A/cA it was a 'party. It "svas NO PARTY to the compact. Being 
no party to the compact, it has 7io power over it. " It is not a power pre- 
eminent and superior, but an agent only, subordinate to the several independent 
sovereignties, that by common consent gave it existence for common pur- 
poses." These sovereignties may alter, modify, abolish and reinstate this agency. 
They remain as before, independent of each other, and all others. 
They are not merged and absorbed in the Federal Government I That agent 
is not the government of a nation one and indivisible ! " It possesses no 
control over the several States of the Union beyond what the Constitution has 
given it for common purposes — but is strictly and truly an agency invested 
with limited powers, which it cannot honestly exceed. Those powers 
are to be found in THE CONSTITUTION, AND NO WHERE ELSE." 
They must be exercised solely with a view to the trusts for which they were 
granted. " Whatever is done by the Federal Government ivithin the authority 
delegated, is binding on all the States and the people of the States : what is 
NOT done under and by virtue of, and within the plain and obvious meaning 
of the authority contained in the Constitution," IS USURPATION. 
Usurpation is Tyranny, and Tyranny the desert of cowards. 

Usurpation by the Federal Government can lead to no end but consolidation, 
and that is ruin. " Disunion is a bad thing, says Mr. Jefferson, but consolida- 
tion is worse." 

The powers delegated to the Federal Judiciary, do not include " a question be- 
tween the Government of the United States and any State, growing out of the 

RESERVED RIGHTS OF THE StATES." 

There are two cases in which the Constitution has made provision for the 
course of Congress, in a question between that body a7id any State or States. 
"Where Congress is in doubt whether a power claimed, be constitutional or not; 
and where a power not granted is desired. In those cases, a Convention of 
States can be called by Congress, and the powers doubted or denied may be 
given, if two-thirds of the States consent ; and this is the fiiir and regular 
course of proceeding. If Congress neglect or refuse to put in force this salutary 
provision of the Constitution, but proceed in a steady career of usurpation, pass- 
ing laws which the Constitution does not justif\', and closing their ears to the 
memorials, remonstrances, (protests,) and appeals of the minority — what is that 
minority, or any independent State, party to the federative compact, to do in such 
a contingency ? For every right there is a remedy. What is the remedy in 
this case?" There is but one. And that k the right one. If remonstrances, 
protests and appeals will not be heard — SECESSION MUST ! If they can not 
amt7— SECESSION CAN. As they have no<~SECESSION WILL. 

If any one, at this late day, should ask, if the South has income and capital 
enough to dissolve the copartnership and set up in business for itself. Let him be 
assured she has even an abuudmice. Besides the vast treasures she annually con- 
tributes to the Federal Government, to be expended at the North, notice the 
financial affairs of the several State Governments at the present time. 
The total debt of the free States amounts to - - 1116,775,235 

« *« « slave " " - - - 94,477,197 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 149 

The total ordinary annual income*^of all the free States is $10,716,865* 

" " " " " slave States is 7,069,619t 

In proportion to population, the debt of the slave States is rather larger than 
that of the free States, hut in it is included the debt of the late Republic of 
Texas ; if this debt be deducted, the debt of the slave States will be found rather 
less, in proportion to population, than that of the free States. The ordinary in- 
come of the Southern States is, comparatively, much greater than that of the 
Northern States. In the payment of their otficers and public functionaries, the 
Southern States, can atford to be nearly twice sis liberal as the Northern.:}: 
The ordinary annual expenditure of the Northern States, (exclusive 

of debts, free schools, »fec.) is - - - |2, 756, 700 

The ordinary annual expenditure of the Southern States, (exclusive 

of debts, free schools, (fee.) is - - - $2,501,952 

It must be remembered, in considering these numbers, that none of the States, 
probably, levy more taxes than are just sufficient to meet their expenses. So 
that they atFi)rd no accurate criterion as to how much they could command, if 
circumstances required more. They only show what the jieople are accustomed 
and willing to do under ordinary circumstances. Like straws, they show how the 
wind blows. Here, also, it must be rembered, if the States separate, the creditor 
the South is not likely to sutler as much as that of the North, for the reason that 
our domestic products are so much more valuable. 

In 1830, all the ordinary expenditures of the United States — with a third more 
population than the South now htis — were $13,000,000. Now, including all our 
exports, as well to the North as to foreign ports, the annual amount is put down 
at $170,000,000,§ and the return imports at $200,000,000. This. at the low 
duty of 10 per cent., would yield a revenue of $20,000,000 — twice as much, 
perhaps, as the South would roquire for her ordinary expenditures ; but three 
millions less than she noiv paz/.t to the federal government, over and above lohat 
is returned to her by the governincnt. 

Putting down the whole amount of our exports, of staples alone, (including 
those sent to the North,) at the moderate sum of $130,000,000, and the return 
imports at the same amount, at a duty of 30 per cent., which is less than the pre- 
sent duties on many articles, we would have a revenue of $40,000,000, and no 
increase of prices would ensue on manufactures. " We might therefore spend as 
much as the government of the United States ever did, in time of peace, up to 
the beginning of General Jackson's administration, and still have on hand 
$25,000,000 to devote to domestic purposes."! These $25,000,000 could, at the 
rate of 5 per cent., pay the interest on a debt of $500,000,000, if, on account of 
separation, we should require a loan to that amount. We need not, then, be 
uneasy on this score. 

As we have dared thus publicly to defend a measure, the popularity of which 
is doubtful even now, when the necessity for it is obvious, the reader may be dis- 
posed to inquire if we have any plan by which the measure may be consummated. 
We answer, yes ! But we will inquire, have you a plan ? If you have, compare 
it with ours, reason upon them both, and adopt that which, to your better judg- 
ment, may seem best. We are not wedded to ours ; we trust you are not wedded 
to yours. This is a time when pride of opinion should be smothered in its first 
efforts. Let none of us. Oh, men of the South, however wise, experienced and 

* Iowa and Wisconsin not included. f Missouri not included. 

X These numbers are collected from the American Almanac and other sources. 
§ See " The Union," the Past, etc. 
See the Speech of Mr. Clingman, in the House of Representative, Jan. 22d, 1850. , 



150 THE DISUNIONIST ; ,0R, 

influential we may be, indulge the idea, hurtful as it would be on this issue, 
though harmless in matters of minor importance, that we know better what 
should be done than other people. If we have already formed our opinions, let 
us candidly compare them, in a logical mminer, with those which may be ad- 
vanced by others. 

In the first place, Congress is not the power to dissolve the compact. As 
Congress did not form this union, so Congress cannot dissolve it, de jure. 

In the next place, a combination of States, as sovereigns, should not dissolve 
the compact. A combination of one set of contractors, to destroy a compact, to 
which another set of contractors are parties disposed to keep the contract binding, 
is not a manly or independent course. There was no combination of States, as 
sovereigns, in forming this Union, so there should be none in dissolving it. But, 
be it remembered, as there was consultation and advisement, a proper interchange 
of views and opinions between the i^eo'ph of the several States, as parties in- 
terested, in the formation of this Union, so there may properly be consultation, 
advisement, and exchange of opinion, in dissolving it. 

In the next place, each sovereign should go out of a confederation in the same 
way, on the same footing, and with the same degree of independence with which 
it entered that confederation ; otherwise, that sovereign has deteriorated, degene- 
rated, lost power, lost caste, lost respect, lost soviething. As each State joined or 
came into the Union, so, also, should it go out. Then, as each State came into 
this Union upon its own responsibility, independent of all the other States, and 
without a necessary regard to the previous or ayiticijMted action of any other 
State, so also should each State go out of it. 

In the next place, as the events which have brought the Southern States to the 
inferior position in which they have been lately placed, and to the dangerous 
position in which they now stand, have been the result of thirty years repeated 
aggressions on the part of the Northern States, through their authorized repre- 
sentatives, in the federal legislature, and the concerted action of their private 
citizens, as well as the formal proceedings of their governments, and as they have, 
during these thirty years, been again and again appealed to, warned, solicited to 
desist from their obnoxious measures, a^Z to no purpose, it becomes each Southern 
State, in whatever course it may pursue, in order to guard against those further 
and more dangerous events which must, in the nature of things, necessarily follow 
those gone before, not to rely on them for any retraction which it may be sup- 
posed they would make, if again appealed to. As they are the responsible powers, 
which have deliberately and repeatedly disrobed us of our rights, honours and 
immunities, it would be degrading in its effects, servile in its essence, degenerate 
in its spii'it, and cowardly in its appearance, for us, after having, in convention, 
solemnly declared that certain events would render certain proceedings, on our 
part, necessary for the preservation of our birthright, now that those events have 
transpired, in more monstrous shapes than ever had been expected, for us to shrink 
from carrying out those j^roceedings, or to qualify those proceedings, when carried 
out, by an appeal or prop)Osition to them for any favour, compro7)iise, or other 
things than those which we claim as our right, and have determined to take. 

Based upon these obvious principles of honourable independence, which must 
find an echo in the breast of every enlightened freeman, the following plan, by 
which this Union should be dissolved, may not be altogether impracticable or 
improper. 

Let each Southern State send its delegates to the adjourned meeting of the 
Nashville Convention, which meets about the middle of November, The mem- 
bers of this body will weigh our rights and weigh our wrongs ; they will consult 
calmly, candidly, logically, and freely with each other ; they will agree upon and 
recommend to the people of the States they represent, such a course as they may 



SECESSION, THE RIGHTFUL REMEDY. 151 

think best. Their recommendation should then be submitted to the people of 
the several districts,, by their respective delegates, at the earliest opportunity 
afforded for holding a primary meeting of their constituents. At these meetings, 
the recommendation of the general convention will either be agreed upon or 
rejected, in part or in whole At the same time, the recommendation should be 
submitted to the governor of each State. This functionary should convene the 
legislature and submit the matter to their consideration. But before the legisla- 
ture can have assembled, these primary meetings will have been held. Now, 
each of these meetings, if in their judgment they deem it expedient, should ad- 
dress a memorial to the legislature, thus about assembling, praying that body to 
take the necessary steps, and without unnecessary delay, by which to effect an 
honourable, equitable, independent and unqualified secession of the State from the 
Union, This is the first great step to take. Secede first. Settle disputes after- 
wards. Proclaim your rights fii-st. Maintain them afterwards. If you cannot 
maintain your rights in the Union, it is certain you can do no less out of it. By 
this time the new Congress will be in session. Any business, then, which 
the State legislature may have to arrange with Congress can be accomplished 
without delay. The first item of which, perhaps, would be to recall the senators 
and representatives from that body. The secession of any one State having been 
accomplished, let it look around to arrange its foreign relations. The first thing, 
under this head, will be to communicate with such other States as may also have 
seceded. With all such a confederacy should be formed, for " the common de- 
fence and general welfare." Exigencies, however, may arise, which would require 
immediate assistance and co-operation, the one from the other. In this case, an 
alliance may be formed, for the time being, under a treaty. When there is more 
tranquillity, a permanent compact may be formed. When each State secedes, it 
should notify the government which it is about leaving what claims it sets up to 
public property, territories, etc., etc. If the seceding States determine to claim a 
part of the territory belonging to the present government, and a part of Califor- 
nia, unconstitutionally taken from them, let them claim every inch lying south of 
latitude 36° 30'. Let them claim all of this, or none. It is a claim not only 
moderate in itself, but fortified by a law of thirty years standing, a precedent of 
binding authority — the Missouri compromise. This compromise, though, as 
we have already maintained, impolitic and unconstitutional in itself, is neverthe- 
less the law of the land. It is a precedent, binding by time, consent and usage, 
though it be uncoiistitutionality legalized. The parallel of latitude, 36° 30' 
should be proclaimed the Northern boundary of the territory of the new republic, 
from Missouri to the Pacific, or else no territory shold be claimed at all. This, 
however, supposes that all the Southern States secede ; if, therefore, only a part 
of them secede, the proposition perhaps would not hold. 

By such a course, the South places itself entirely on the defensive. She does 
nothing more than what she has a right to do ; nothing more than what she 
is forced to do; nothing more than what she should do ; nor does she claim more 
than what is hers. It will be for the North to decide whether we shall have peace 
or war. If she is disposed to accede to our claims, we will have peace ; if she 
refuses them, we must have war. But not a civil war. It is a monstrous error 
to suppose that a dissolution of the Union would, in any event, cause a civil war. 
A war between such great countries as the South and North, the one entirely 
arrayed against the other, partakes of none of the features of a civil war. Civil 
wars, mobs and massacres may be expected when one class of a community is 
arrayed against another class, in the same community, living in the same cities 
and the same districts. In some of the revolutions of France, when fratricidal 
blood was made to gurgle under the feet of delirious mobs, there were. civil wars. 
But in the American Revolution, there was no civil war, properly speaking. It 



152 , THE DINUN10NI6T, ETC. 

was a regularly waged war, between Americans and Britons. So in the event of 
a Southern Revolution, it is impossible there can be a civil ivar. If war does 
come, it will be an open, vigorous and determined war, between two great nations; 
the one defending all that is sacred, the other the Lord knows what. 

In conclusion. Oh, men of the South, let us remind you how the noble Brutus 
reasoned, on the march to Philippi : 

" You must note beside, 
That we have tried the utmost of our friends, 
Our legions are brim full, our cause is ripe, 
The enemy increaseth every day, 
We, at the height, are ready to decline. 
There is a tide in the affairs of men. 
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 
On nuch a full sea are we now afloat. 
And we must take the current when it serves, 
Or lose our ventures." 



